Mystery Kids: Return of the Beldam
by DaemonTheDemon
Summary: The Mystery Kids face off against Coraline's greatest enemy known as the Other Mother. Having returned through sinister circumstances, the Beldam is back and with a terrible vengeance against the girl she so desperately desired as a daughter. Now, it is up to Coraline and the others to fight against the Other Mother and protect Gravity Falls from becoming her new fly on the web.
1. Deal between Demons

A week has passed ever since the twins and Flowey the flower had that scary encounter with the brain surgeon, or dentist, known as Doctor Loboto. However, it was not the only encounter that they experienced for along the way the came across four other children who rather had similar experiences towards the supernatural. Of course, none of them ever mentioned these experiences but given what they saw last week, there was really no point in sharing their own crazy stories. The first one stood out more and was the oldest of the bunch given that she is only thirteen years old. Her name was Coraline Jones, a feisty, tomboyish, rebellious, adventurous, and curious thirteen year old girl. Naturally, the twins' first impressions of her were quite bitter, although that is to be expected since they nearly killed each other by accident but all in all it was a misunderstanding. The other was named Norman Babcock who's most prominent feature is his long spiky brown hair. Norman was pretty neutral and felt that it was his ob to maintain the peace between the people in case things escalated. The other was Neil Downe, who is Norman's best friend, and in all honesty could be seen as the most normal one in the group even though he is not exactly the sharpest nail on the block. The last one was called Wybie Lovat, a nervous, cautious, but intelligent African-American boy. The name 'Wybie' was short for Wyborn which of course made him the victim of certain nicknames, mainly from Coraline herself though it was on a more friendly level. Two other newcomers entered the fray, but in the form of psychics whom were part of a secret government agency known as the Psychonauts, an organization that recruits children with powerful psychic abilities. As it turns out, Loboto was some kind of 'archenemy' to these two particular psychics. The first was named Razputin Aquato. He was usually seen as calm and collected, though he was brash and headstrong when it is needed, and that unfortunately spells danger not just for him but towards those surrounding him. Naturally of course, he learned his lesson, though that does not stop him from jumping into danger from time to time much to the frustration of his new allies. Though no one gets frustrated as much as his self-proclaimed 'girlfriend' Lili Zanotto. Impatient, hot-headed, and sarcastic, Lili is not one to be trifled with but Coraline is probably the only one among the group to not back down when she incurs Lili's wrath. Mabel is also somewhat fearless when approaching Lili but the psychic finds her bouncy and cheerful attitude rather annoying even to where she burned a sweater that Mabel made for her. What do you get when you mix all these into one massive concoction? Pure chaos. Their personalities, when blended together, becomes a chemical mixture that makes chaos itself. As these children are not exactly aware of how politeness works which of course, more often than not, made them antagonistic towards each other, but for certain ones at least.

It was not until they finally stopped bickering and started working together to take down Loboto. Surprisingly, they actually were able to work together quite well with Coraline showing impressive leadership skills. However, Coraline was adamant that she does not exactly possess the traits of a leader, as she more or less makes sure that no one steps out of line and does things in the way where they can win and defeat the villain or monster. Seeing that they can manage to perform good teamwork if they did not try to kill each other for once, the children all declared that they should come together as one and form a group officially known as the Mystery Kids. A group of children who deal with supernatural forces that threaten both the lives of the people and the town itself. And Flowey also agreed, begrudgingly, to be the mascot but mainly due to the fact that it involves beating down evil and wicked forces which is something he is quite fond of. But of course Mabel has to make sure that he does not go too far because if there is anyone that can control Flowey it's Mabel. It is not seen as a sort of master and pet relationship but one where Mabel is like a teacher and Flowey is a student, learning the principles of morality; even if they are quite bizarre when it comes to Mabel's standards. After a week, Coraline and the others settled into Gravity Falls along with Norman's father, Perry Babcock. The reason that the four kids were out here in the first place was mainly because of Coraline's parents as they noticed that Coraline was getting more bored than usual during the time she was living in the Pink Palace. So, they decided to have her explore her surroundings but in a much more broad scale, and that is by taking a trip around Oregon, starting with Gravity Falls itself. Of course, joining her is Wybie seeing that Coraline might need someone who is the only friend she made when she moved to Ashland, Oregon. And Norman along with Neil joined because Perry and his wife decided that it might be nice for Norman to get some time away from the insanity within Blithe Hollow, and also because that Norman and Coraline's family are good friends with each other. They were currently living in one of Gravity Falls' lodges which was a small wooden apartment building and not really that fancy, but can you blame it? This is a sleepy town after all. Inside the rooms, it was shown to be a three bedroom apartment, which means some of them would have to be sharing rooms, however, since Coraline is the only girl, she will be taking a room all to herself. And that she did as she already claimed one of the bedrooms and promised a not-so pleasant demise to anyone that comes in without knocking. That caused Neil and Wybie to share the other bedroom together while Norman would have a room of his own and his father would sleep on the couch. He was bitter about it but he was a gentleman first and foremost so he would understand Coraline's dilemma.

Perry was walking around examining the lodge and admiring the interior even though it looks like it has seen better days, "Well, it's not much but uh..." Perry began to say as he turned over to Neil prodding a stuffed deer's antler until it snapped and fell to the floor. "Oops." Neil sheepishly muttered with Perry sighing, "It's not much?" Coraline reiterated for him as she was seen walking behind him with a frown, "Ugh. Seriously, Mr. Babcock? Why did we have to stay in the crummy lodge?" Coraline questioned grumpily with Perry turning to her and having a cross-sour look, "Hey, do I look like the Prime Minister of Australia? It was all I could afford!" He retorted bitterly with Neil saying, "Whoa! Far out, Mr. Babcock! I didn't know you were a Prime Minister!" He voiced in awe with Perry rolling his eyes, "Look, just be glad that at least we're living in a closed and sheltered place instead of outright camping out there in the woods." Perry continued to say sternly to Coraline who sighed and flopped down on the couch, crossing her arms. "Camping does sound fun though! Right, Norman?" Neil asked Norman who was staring at the assortment of stuffed animal heads with a blank empty stare. Neil rose one eyebrow, "Norman?" He called his name again but Norman did not answer once again for he looked to be in a complete trance as though he was plunged into an entirely different world. It was not until Neil shook his shoulder that Norman snapped out of his daze, "Norman!" Norman was startled a little as he looked around a bit to absorb his real surroundings, "You okay there, hedgehog? That's like the third time this week you were day dreaming." Coraline remarked with a curious brow. "O-oh...uh...sorry about that. You know how my uh...imagination runs." Norman nervously chuckled. "Norman your imagination consists of zombies and cheap slasher films." Perry told him nonchalantly with Norman giving him a look, "They're not cheap, dad. Okay, yeah, the budget on the movies wasn't really that good considering that the killings looked about as real as mangling play-dough but still...enjoyable to watch." He retorted with a smirk. "It's either horror movies or maybe he's just seeing the g-" Neil was about to indirectly reveal Norman's secret until Norman quickly cut him off, "The Galapagos Fern over there!" He voiced pointing over to the fern by the backdoor. "It's uh...it's one really exquisite fern I'll tell ya that much heh..." Norman anxiously said as Perry and Coraline gave him odd looks. However, Perry knew the truth, and a truth that was hard for him to accept and it took a while for him to get used to it. Neil of course knew, but those who did not were Coraline and Wybie and knowing his son, he was afraid that if he told the truth Norman would have the spotlight of humiliation shone upon him. So, Perry sighed and acted like it was nothing.

"Yeah...and for some reason that fern didn't happen to join the mounting party up there." Coraline referred to the stuffed animal heads on the walls. "On the bright side...at least we don't have these things in the bedrooms." Perry said in relief. "Oh totally. Cause I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable with having a deer head looking at me while I'm in my room, especially during Neil time." Neil remarked with a discomforted tone of voice. "Wait...Neil time?" Coraline repeated in question. "I'd explain what Neil time is but I'm gonna be a gentleman and let you all manage to sleep with sweet dreams instead of horrible nightmares." Neil remarked in a cheery tone of voice while the others, mostly Norman, took a step back from him. "Anyway...Coraline, why're you complaining? I thought you said that you were gonna like it here." Norman asked her as he walked up to her with Coraline sighing, "I am liking it here but I could just do a place that doesn't have...oh I don't know...a bed that's filled with bugs who will suck your body dry during the night? Or maybe have some air conditioning? Good working electricity? And definitely could do without these stupid bugs!" She complained with a growl as she swapped at her arms, squishing the mosquitoes and smacking the others that flew around her away. "Like it or not, Coraline...this is nature. And nature is actually pretty beautiful once you get used to just stepping out and breathing in that sweet scent of the outdoors." Perry said to her as he walked to the backdoor and opened it before taking a whiff of the fresh hair, "Ahh...you smell that? That's the smell of peace and-" Perry was starting to say until Norman said, "Moose poop." With his son being next to him as he pointed over to the Moose a few feet away. Perry opened his eyes to see a Moose doing its business near their car. Perry's left eye twitched but struggled to contain himself until he shut the door rather firmly. "Wow. Nature really is beautiful! That Moose was sure letting those big puppies out." Neil remarked with a giggle causing Norman to shake his head and roll his eyes but smirk. "Is that usually a good sign, Mr. Babcock?" Coraline wondered with a witty smile and look. "Not. One. Word." Perry growled when Norman patted his side, "Relax, dad. It can't get any worse." Perry tossed his arms up, "Oh sure! Because you saying it can't get any worse after a Moose dumped its brownies by my car is always a sure fire way to-!" He stopped himself and inhaled then exhaling while Norman took a step back from his temperamental father, "No no. This is a time for relaxation. So, I shouldn't be letting out the dynamite. Instead...we're gonna just...relax." He said in an attempt to calm himself down as he sighed deeply. "Okay then. While you guys have your way of relaxing...I'm here wondering where Wyborn went." Coraline asked about Wybie who had not been present with them, and speak of the Devil, he came rushing down the stairs. "Guys! You're not gonna believe this! I just found a collection of banana slugs that're just chilling in the bathtub! I've hit the jackpot! This place is amazing!" Wybie squealed in happiness while the others gave him befuddled looks.

"Banana slugs? Wicked!" Neil joined in on the excitement. "I know right?! Come on, I'll show ya!" Wybie motioned for him to follow and the two boys rushed back up the stairs towards the bathroom. "Norman! I'm gonna be checking out some slugs that look like bananas! How crazy is that?" Neil told his best friend with anticipation. "Not as crazy as Why-Where-You-Born's slug obsession. I mean seriously...what is it with him and his slug love?" Coraline wondered out loud in bewilderment. "Honestly? I'm not so sure myself. I mean...slugs don't exactly have a good reputation...especially when it comes to farmers." Norman responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'll have you know that slugs convert rotting vegetable matter to rich soil! Plus, slug slime has some truly phenomenal properties." Wybie mentioned before he went back to where the bathroom is. "Well, I'm getting a bucket and going on bathroom cleaning duty. Because I am not planning on finding one of you kids' bodies in there from having slipped on those things while taking a shower." Perry proclaimed as he walked up the stairs following Wybie and Neil. This left Norman and Coraline by their lonesome downstairs with Norman sitting on the couch next to Coraline. The two sat in silence for a few short moments until Coraline broke the silence, "So, how do you think Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dork are doing?" She asked him referring to Dipper and Mabel. "Dipper and Mabel? Oh they're fine." Norman responded casually. "How do you know?" Coraline questioned with Norman taking his phone out, turning the screen on, and showing that he has been in contact with them. "We keep in touch." He replied with a smirk much to Coraline's slight surprise, "Seriously? And you guys didn't invite me?" She said in a mock-hurt voice though Norman caught it and chuckled, "Well, we would've invited you but it's just that...uh..." He struggled to find a proper word for how Coraline is and she was really curious to know as well. She crossed her arms together, rose one eyebrow, and gave him a 'go on' look. "What? Say it." Coraline pressured him with Norman rubbing the back of his neck, "It's just that you have a certain...colorful personality that people don't exactly...find all that colorful." He sheepishly replied with a light uneasy grin. "So, you're basically saying that I'm a jerkwad." Coraline corrected him with narrow eyes. "No, no, no! Not at all but...I get that you're bossy but it's just that...you're a little bit too eccentric." Norman clarified nervously with Coraline giving him a glare which made Norman all the more nervous until she shrugged, not disagreeing to that nor caring either way, "Eh, got me there. But come on...I'm eccentric? Have you even seen Mabel? I'd think she beat me by a mile." Coraline remarked with a smirk. "Heh, yeah she does have her moments. And by that I mean a lot of moments which just keeps going on and on like a train that's full of colorfully knit sweaters." Norman cracked which actually made Coraline laugh a little. "You're not wrong there, Norman. Though I gotta admit she does make pretty cute sweaters." She complimented Mabel's style of fashion. "Speaking of which...she asked if she could make you a sweater." Norman said catching Coraline's attention and surprise, "Wait, seriously? She wants to make me a sweater?" She repeated with a stunned tone of voice, "Well...yeah. I mean if you don't want her to it's fine-" Norman was about to say until Coraline stopped him, "No, no, like...I'm totally cool with that. And...it's actually kinda sweet of her even though we met for like...what? A week?" She said with a tender look and actually feeling touched that Mabel would make her a sweater.

"It's been one heck of a week I'll tell you that. And one where I honestly did not expect to be going fisticuffs with a crazy brain doctor." Norman remarked mentioning their long battle against Loboto. "What were you expecting?" Coraline asked him curiously. "I dunno...tourists that are actually zombies in disguise?" Norman questioningly responded with Coraline snorting at that, "Don't hold your breath. We've already seen a big monster so there might be just those out there." She proclaimed with Norman cringing a little, "I hope not. By the way, have you heard from Raz and Lili?" He asked her with Coraline giving him a look, "You're seriously asking me that? Why would I know or care?" She responded coldly. "Come on, Coraline. You can't still be mad at them for what happened." Norman said to her with Coraline shaking her head, "I'm not saying I'm mad. Raz learned from his mistakes...I hope he did. But Lili's just a different story." She said with a venomous tone upon mentioning Lili, "You guys are never gonna be friends are you?" Norman questioned with Coraline scoffing at the notion, "Not in a million years." She responded with a wicked smirk until she then remembered something, "Hey, by the way...what's with you and always just staring at empty places like you're seeing invisible people?" Coraline asked which made Norman freeze in place, "Oh uh...that? It's...nothing really." He responded a little hesitantly. "Considering that you look like you're reenacting a scene from the Sixth Sense...I'm not buying it." Coraline said with skepticism behind her voice. "No really, Coraline. It's nothing...I just have a big imagination it's why I'm always day dreaming." Norman again urged a little with Coraline giving him a look with narrowed eyes but she did not press the matter, for now at least. "Well, better get to work on that cause since we're like a para-busting club now we wouldn't want you to be dreaming about slaying zombies while we're actually slaying zombies." Coraline cracked with Norman letting out a weak chuckle, "Oh, don't worry..." He said as he looked around, showing that they were surrounded by many ghosts that also had the ethereal green glow around them. Many of them looked to be settlers from the old ages and even those with modern clothing. There were also animals that were actually the same ones that were stuffed on the walls. "It's not gonna be a problem at all." Norman ominously said with furrowed brows as his eyes followed the ghosts while Coraline had no idea whatsoever that these spirits were hovering or strolling past her and even through her.

Meanwhile, at the Mystery Shack, Dipper and Mabel were in their rooms and were actually conversing with some familiar faces, though it was mostly Mabel as Dipper was looking through his journal. It showed Mabel texting none other than the skeleton brothers themselves, Sans and Papyrus with Sans taking the name Lazy Bones 1.0 while Papyrus had the name Cool Skeleton 99. Joining them was Undyne herself under the username Strong Fish and the four of them were conversing in their own bizarre, yet comedic way with the usual puns being thrown by Sans and the enraged emojis by Papyrus in response though Mabel found them hilarious and even threw in some puns herself much to Papyrus's dismay and Undyne's amusement. Mabel told them about what happened with Loboto, meeting Coraline and the others, and having a run in with a group called the Psychonauts which eventually forced the kids to work together to take down Loboto and formed an alliance known as the Mystery Kids. Papyrus was of course incredibly thrilled by this and was eager to meet these new people with Mabel also wanting them to meet their new friends though Dipper called them allies as he was not sure if they were truly friends yet, but judging by his interactions with Norman and Neil on his own social media platform, they were getting there. "Hey, Dipper! The skele-bros and Undyne are saying hi!" Mabel told him in her usual bouncy tone with Dipper smiling as he was reading his journal, "Tell them I said hi, too. Oh, and make sure to watch out for dogs." Dipper responded with Mabel texting them just that before she wrote down that she will be back later leaving behind lines of heart emojis to them. She jumped on the bed with excitement, "Sweet Jamboree, bro bro! Can you believe it!? We're actually not the Mystery Twins anymore but...the Mystery Kids! Or..as I like to call ourselves..." She then stopped and tugged the covers before moving it around her body with her eyes only visible mimicking a vampire or phantom of sorts, "The Spook Crew." She ominously proclaimed before taking out a glass ball with electricity surging inside and made lightening sound effects. "Mabel, we're not calling ourselves the Spook Crew." Dipper said to her rolling his eyes. "But that's what we are, man! We're a bunch of kids that go out in the night and solve creepy mysteries and fight a bunch of poopy monsters and ghosts!" Mabel made some punching motions while flailing her blanket around. "The only thing we did was just take down a psycho dentist. Which for some reason is a kind of weird start for the formation of this little club." Dipper remarked with a raised brow, "Oh pssh! A brain dentist isn't all that weird. I mean...look at Gideon. He's human, I think, and he does creepy and crazy stuff." Mabel proclaimed with Dipper giving it some brief thought and found himself agreeing, "Yeah, good point. But even if Gideon isn't supernatural I'd say he's more unnatural." Dipper cracked with the twins breaking into laughter at that. Dipper calmed down muttering how good he is at his insults before he noticed something, "Hey, where's Flowey?" He asked when he realized that the grumpy golden flower was not present in the room with them. "Oh, Flowey's out by the porch taking his daily sunbath. Eeee he's such a cute little buttercup being all toasty and what not!" Mabel squealed in admiration. "Yeah if he's not threatening your life every once in a while." Dipper stated with furrowed brows. "Aw, don't worry about it, broski. He's starting to learn the value of friendship and fun! Plus, with our new little members of weird but awesome dorks...it's a perfect opportunity for him to get to know what being friends is like!" Mabel proclaimed with Dipper sighing lightly, "I'll take your word for it, Mabel."

Outside on the porch of the shack, Flowey the flower was set on the small stairs, enjoying his sunbath. Though, enjoying it as much as he can for when it came to sunbathing due to being a flower, it allows him to lament on certain past events that have happened. Sure, he tries not to think about too often, but when it came to scenarios that happen in the present day, it feels like the universe is taunting him and showing him reenacted images of things that had already happened and he witnessed, some of which he caused himself. Flowey could not help but cringe at those thoughts, but what surprised him was the fact that he actually cringed at them. Usually, when thinking of things that involve mayhem and turmoil it would please him and give him thrills, however, when he was the one performing the mayhem it made him feel...somewhat uneasy. Is this due to the fact that he had spent so much time with Mabel and Dipper that he was actually beginning to see that being bad is not good? Or maybe it is because that he is easily capable of those at any given moment in time. He would never be sure, but one thing he is sure of is that he actually hopes it would not come to that. He did make a promise after all, and in all honesty he has been tempted to go that route but never did due to the promise he made to a certain close friend of his. It had been only a month and while he thought living with Dipper and Mabel would be unbearable, he found himself actually getting more comfortable in his surroundings. There is also these newcomers that entered the mix. Of course he initially dislikes them greatly, especially the blue haired girl, but there were some that were rather tolerable in some degree. However, given how strange and bizarre these kids were, Flowey was quite surprised that the human world did not turn out like it would be. He was especially surprised at the fact that there were monsters living up here and were hostile rather than nice like the ones who formerly lived in the Underground. There was also the fact that there were good humans fighting evil humans. He always thought that humans were a united race that want nothing more than the destruction of monsters, but here these kids were fighting a deranged lunatic human with a desire to lobotomize all that he sees. It was unbelievable, he certainly did not expect that even though the twins told him it was going to be a little more weird from here on out once Mabel brought him up to the surface. He rummaged through his mind on these thoughts all while the beautiful rays of the sun shone on him with the birds chirping in the far distance and the sound of various critters being heard all around the vast woods. He sighed and closed his eyes, basking in the sun's rays for a while until he heard a familiar oink by his side. His eyes opened, looked to his left, and saw that it was Waddles the pig, sitting there on its rear watching the flower. "What is it, Waddles..?" Flowey questioned the pig in small aggravation since he prefers his sunbath alone. Waddles let out a snort through its nostrils in response while gazing at Flowey adorably, "Waddles, I thought I told you that I prefer to have my daily sunbath alone." The flower informed him with furrowed brows and an annoyed expression.

Waddles just blinked once which made Flowey more annoyed. "Seriously...go away!" The flower demanded sternly but Waddles would not move from his spot. Ever since he was introduced to Waddles, the pig took a great liking to him almost immediately. He could never understand why and he assumed that pigs were bad judges of character. When given the chance, Waddles would just lay by Flowey's side and sleep, and would even lick his face in affection much to his displeasure. Many times Flowey got so close to just slapping Waddles on top of the head to make him go away, but he knew he could not. The golden flower let out an aggravated sigh and said, "You know what? Whatever. You can stay...at least you're not a human and you're quiet." Waddles tilted his head a little at that in a curious fashion before taking some steps forward and plopping down beside Flowey while looking ahead with him. "For the record I'm only letting you stay because your brain isn't big enough to understand the difference between go away and stay." Flowey remarked with a frown though Waddles of course did not seem to care all that much as the pig simply snorted twice. "So...did you get a good look at the new idiots in town?" Flowey asked him referring to the new arrivals with Waddles giving him a glance and a light oink. "Yeah, they're really something, aren't they? Especially that blue haired girl. Out of all of them she annoys me the most." Flowey coldly proclaimed with Waddles blinking once, "Pfft...give them a chance? As if." Flowey responded as though he was actually having a conversation with Waddles and the pig could speak English. "Hey, I gave Mabel and Dipper a chance because...well, you already know. But these guys? I've only just met them for like a week! It took me a month to warm up to Mabel and Dipper...in a way I mean." Flowey stated with Waddles letting out two snorts. "That doesn't imply anything. Besides, I don't have a soul so it's not like it matters." Flowey said in a downtrodden tone which Waddles detected given that the pink pig nuzzled his head against Flowey's much to his annoyance, "Cut it out, Waddles." Flowey told him sternly though Waddles did not back down as he then laid around Flowey from behind with the flower sighing, "I really don't get what you see in me. If you knew what I've done...you wouldn't even be here in the first place much less be around a foot away or so." Flowey said with Waddles letting out a light oink. "God you're so naive. But...that's to be expected. Your Mabel's pet after all so you got that from her." Flowey snickered a little at that. "Wait, why am I even talking to you? You're a pig...oh god I've really stooped that low haven't I?" Flowey said in shock at himself with Waddles's nostrils flaring twice from the snorts. "Mabel's influence is stronger than I thought...next thing you know I might have a weird obsession with knitting colorful sweaters!" Flowey exclaimed in dread until he calmed down, "No, no...that can't be true, right? I mean...come on. Look at me! Look at who I am! There's no way that I could..." Flowey struggled to continue as he trailed off with Waddles giving him a curious gaze. "I'm hopeless...aren't I?" Flowey questioned with a depressed look on his face prompting Waddles to nuzzle his head against Flowey's tenderly which actually managed to lighten up the flower somewhat. "Heh...you're an idiot, Waddles. But...thanks for listening or whatever." Flowey said a bit hesitantly however deep down he does want to express his thoughts to someone rather than just talking to himself all the time. Unbeknownst to them, a few yards away from the flower and pig, a small shape hopped on one of the boulders. Upon closer inspection, was nothing more than a cat. The cat has charcoal black fur, both of its ears are torn, for an unknown reason, and bright blue eyes and has a quite lithe body structure. Other than that, its blue eyes contrast to the color of its fur. Its blue eyes narrowed and let out a low rumble while its tail swayed from side to side.

Meanwhile, something else was taking place but not in the usually Earthly plane, for this one was more of an empty white void. Just then, a blue rift tears itself through the space of the void and out comes a familiar but threatening face; Bill Cipher. He peers through the rift with his singular eye narrowed, shifting left and right for brief inspection, then fully emerges with what looks to be a key in his hand. "Huh. Well, this place looks like the typical fixer-upper...but I could do worse! Hm?" Bill remarked until he noticed a peculiar sight some few feet away. It looked as though someone or something was dangling at the bottom of some kind of spider web. The threads of silk were hung by what looked to be several portraits usually found in a modern home, "Well, well, well, whaddo we have here?" Bill wondered curiously as he hovered over to the figure that was dangling at the bottom. When he got a closer look, this figure looked to be female but was highly monstrous in appearance and arachnoid as well. She had a sharp nose, and lacked any eyes, though Bill could see some small pairs of threads in place of her eyes almost as if buttons were sewn on them. Her paper white face was marred with cracks and her cheekbones were sharp. Her body possessed an excessively thin waist and bone-like chest. Her hands were also metal claws being made out of needles, and she gained four pairs of legs resembling some kind of spider. Her mouth was open a little showing off her razor sharp teeth. "Whoa-ho-ho! Someone did a real number on you! I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it was a kid. Believe me, lady..." Bill proclaimed before his being became a shade of red, " **I know exactly how you feel.** " He angrily growled before returning to normal but he noticed that she was not responding, in fact, she looked be withered as though she was in the process of decay. "Oh, yeah. You're not exactly to the other side yet. Haha! Welp, better get to work before that jerk of a hooded skeleton comes to do the job." Bill remarked before he snapped his fingers once, letting out a blue spark that slowly fluttered down and into the entity's mouth. Once it did, her body flashed a brief bright blue color, and erupted with life as she took a deep inhale of breath lurching upwards in the process. "Welcome back to the unholy chaotic world called life!" Bill welcomed her whimsically as she panted deeply regaining her breath, "W-what...what is this...w...who are you..?" The being questioned in bewilderment as she looked around when she noticed Bill Cipher. "Bill Cipher's the name! And life-changing, soul exchanging deals is my game!" The demon introduced himself tipping his top hat towards her. The creature looked at herself and realized she was sprung back to life, until she noticed that her right hand was missing and only her clawed left hand was intact. "What do you want..." The female arachnoid asked him lowly. "I want a lot of things! Death! Destruction! Misery! Mayhem! The works! Haha! But I can't exactly do that without some...help as you'd say." Bill proclaimed as he encircled her while twirling his cane. "Help..? Why would I help you...you clearly wasted your efforts in resurrecting me. Just leave me be and let me rot here...as I lament on where I went wrong as a mother." She stated in a depressing tone of voice though Bill blinked and stared at her.

"Okay, uh, sorry to interrupt your 'dramatic brooding' or whatever but seeing that you're not gonna lend me a hand...how 'bout this instead?" Bill offered when he snapped his fingers once again. Immediately, blue fire erupted from where her eyes should be with her head jerking upwards in response before she was then engulfed in a bright flash of light as let out a shriek of pain. A moment passed when the madness subsided with her hunching over, panting heavily and her head lowered wincing a little in pain. She then slowly raised her head with a pained groan and when she did, it revealed yellow buttons replaced where her eyes should be. She slowly felt something in her right hand. She gasped as she actually felt something, prompting her to raise her right hand up and reveal that it had returned but the silver metal was replaced with pristine gold. "I...I can see. I can actually see again!" The female arachnoid exclaimed in joy while she looked around though she noticed a different not long after she basked in her delight that she was both empowered and rejuvenated, "Though it's...not quite like before...but different in some way." She remarked curiously with Bill hovering over to her with his arms behind him as his cane floated next to him. "Eh, it's not like I can top the classics. But who can! Haha!" Bill retorted with the entity looking down at herself in examination before she clenched and reopened her clawed metallic hands a few times and was more focused on her more golden right hand. "So? Got your attention now, Momma long legs?" Bill wondered with the woman slowly turning to face him with a wicked smirk, "You certainly have, demon. What exactly do you want from me?" She asked him with Bill twirling his cane, "Let's just say I'm putting together a...project that I'm working on. But if I'm honest, which I'm not most of the time, it's a pretty big project that even I'm having trouble with!" Bill began to say as she listened. "It just needs a few small but super potent and powerful components. And word on the street is...you've got just the thing I need to give it some flare!" He said to her with the woman raising her brow.

"Are you saying you want...the sand?" She queried with Bill throwing his arms up as confetti popped up out of nowhere along with the sound effects of a nonexistant audience clapping and cheering. "Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" He whimsically proclaimed with a laugh until she said, "Wait...why should I give you the sand for your 'project' as you say? Why not find some other way?" She questioned him with her brows furrowing together. "Because if I did find another way I wouldn't be here and you'd still be rotting until you bite the dust. Literally!" Bill responded to her with the woman frowning at him, "And besides...we both know what you were thinking. What your mind's been running on ever since you got the boot. You really wanna throw that perfect opportunity away? When it's right there between your sewing fingers?" Bill began to tempt her as she was now in thought. Ever since she was defeated by a certain blue haired girl, two things were on her mind: the first is wondering where she went wrong as a mother and the second that she felt a burning need to discipline her 'daughter' for behaving in such a way. "If I give you the sand...what will you give me in exchange?" She then asked him. "How about enough power to make another key?" Bill offered her before he showed the original black key with the button themed bow. "This key's old news. It pretty much only let you go through like one place so...away with it." Bill dramatically declared as he burned the key to nothing with his blue flames. "But...not only can you make a new key...but you'll have enough power to do WAY more than you ever could in the past!" Bill continued to say with the woman thinking on this before turning her gaze at the triangular demon, "Hmm. There is always a twist to this deal...for this is a dangerous bargain. A deal with the Devil, no?" She remarked with skepticism behind her voice. "I prefer the term demon if you wanna get technical. Though I'm flattered you'd compare me to big red!" Bill cracked with a light cackle. "Not to mention there's some certain kids that need to be a taught a lesson, sister. And I know you're just the right person to give them the proper disciplinary treatments." Bill said with a sly tone of voice which honestly made the woman smile sinisterly. "So, whaddya say? I give you the power and you give me the sand." He then extended his hand out for a shake with his hand being engulfed in blue flames, " **Do we have a deal?** " He asked her with his voice echoing and his eye glowing blue. Her smile was then slowly replaced with a large but frightening sharp toothed grin, giving off nothing but a Devilish vibe. She extended her right golden clawed hand out and the two clasped hands, shaking slowly with the blue flames engulfing both of their hands and the deed was done, "Deal~" She responded menacingly while grinning.

 **I don't own Gravity Falls, Undertale, Coraline, ParaNorman, or Psychonauts. Read and Review.**


	2. The Nightmare

Later on during the evening, inside the gift shop of the Mystery Shack, Flowey was done with his sunbath and was now inside the gift shop instead with Wendy being there as well with her usual apathetic demeanor. She had her legs propped up with her muddy boots resting on the counter while leaning back against her chair while reading a magazine. Flowey was on the counter examining some of the items that were in the shop near the register. It had been a month and he still was bewildered at the things he was finding in this place. He at first believed that many of them were real until Dipper informed him of the truth. After a second glance he believed it but what he could not believe is the fact that people were actually believing the things that Stan Pines was telling them mainly to scam them of their money. If humans were really this stupid then he knows for a definitive certain that they are doomed. Flowey was tapping a jar filled with eyeballs that were gazing at him. He swayed to the left with the eyeballs following then to the right and they still followed. Flowey then raised a brow and made a funny face at them but obviously they could not give a reaction. Flowey then made more faces and could not help but snicker mischievously afterwards. He looked at more of the items that were put on display on the shelves before turning to Wendy, "Hey, Wendy..." He addressed to which her brows raised a little in acknowledgment, "Hm? Sup, dude?" She responded as she flipped a page of the magazine she was reading. "How does the old fart do it? I mean...this stuff is just so simplistic and yet he manages to trick people into believing that it's all real." Flowey wondered in disbelief with Wendy chuckling, "Trust me, man. I've been asking myself that same question ever since I started working here." She answered with an amused smirk. "Hm...working in this place must be boring for you. And painful considering that you have to deal with so much stupid." Flowey said to her with Wendy giving it a brief thought then shrugged her shoulders, "Eh, it's got its moments. But honestly? The boring part's just tiny." She said before winking towards Flowey then going back to reading. "As for having to deal with the stupid? It's not exactly...just way more funny than that." She added with a light chortle and Flowey could not help but smirk towards that statement, "Heh, yeah...watching them being idiots is actually pretty funny." Flowey stated with Wendy nodding once in agreement, "Believe it, bud." She then set down the magazine on the counter before she bobbed her head over to one of the customers that was inspecting a Stan Pines bobble head. "For example, check this maniac over there." Wendy told Flowey in a low tone as she leaned over to the flower with the latter looking over to him.

The customer tapped the Grunkle Stan bobble head with the head shaking and jiggling in various ways. And this bizarrely amused the customer to the point where he started to laugh like a moron before continuing to tap it repeatedly. Flowey blinked once and stared at this, "That's just sad." He commented with Wendy snorting at that, "It really is. But hey, how much you wanna bet that its head is gonna pop off and he's gonna run out of the store screaming?" She asked him with a devious expression prompting Flowey to put on a wicked grin, "He'll run out the store screaming 'I popped his head off! I popped his head off!' And then the cops are just gonna arrest him on the spot for the murder of a rare and not-so-precious bobble head." Flowey remarked in a witty tone with Wendy snorting a laugh as she covered her mouth, only for them to pause when the customer screamed in terror. They looked over to see that he indeed accidentally broke the bobble head, "OH MY GOD! I POPPED HIS HEAD OFF! I POPPED HIS HEAD OFF! I'M A MURDERER! SOMEONE TAKE ME TO COURT! JAIL ME FOR LIFE! AAAAAHHH!" He exclaimed in sheer distress while gripping his head before sprinting out of the store. The second he did, both Wendy and Flowey burst out laughing, "Holy cow! Ahahaha! I can't believe you freaking called it!" Wendy said in-between laughs while holding her sides. "Those people are idiots so they're predictable." Flowey remarked with the two continuing to laugh. They eventually stopped when Grunkle Stan rushed in the gift shop, "What?! What's this I hear about a murder in my store?! Soos! Quick! Get the shovel! Wendy you get the bag! Leave no trace of evidence behind!" The old man exclaimed in apprehension thinking that a murder was really committed. Soos came out as well panting a little with a shovel in his head, "I got the shovel, Mister Pines! Don't worry...I've been training for this day my whole life!" Soos strongly proclaimed and adjusted his hat. The twins themselves rushed down and entered the gift shop, "There's been a murder?!" Dipper exclaimed in sheer shock with Mabel saying, "I wanna see the body and poke it with a stick!" In a bouncy tone of voice. "Hey! If anyone's gonna be poking a dead body it's me." Flowey declared with the four looking around the shop until Soos gasped and bent down, "Mister Pines...we got ourselves another one." Soos said morbidly as he picked up the broken bobble head. Grunkle Stan stared before pinching the bridge of his nose with a groan, "That's just terrific. I swear these people would make baboons look smart." He remarked as he took the broken bobble head. "Awh no! They broke Grunkle Bobble #234!" Mabel said in sadness with Dipper shaking his head, "He was so young and so plastic." He joined in though clearly was only playing along.

"A moment of silence for Grunkle Bobble #234." Wendy said as she removed her hat and pretended to mourn over the loss of the bobble head. "He surely will not be missed." Flowey stated with a smirk prompting Grunkle Stan to give him a brief glare before turning to Soos. "Soos. I'm gonna be checking the cameras. After that you find the monster that did this Grunkle Bobble #234. And when you do...keep the shovel." Grunkle Stan told the overweight employee to which Soos nodded once with a stern expression until he paused, "Wait, uh, what exactly am I gonna do with the shovel, Mister Pines?" Soos asked him. "Just smash in his garden gnomes or something! Sheesh." Grunkle Stan responded in annoyance. "Smash in the garden gnomes? I can totally do that, Mister Pines! Those evil pointy ceramic gnomes won't know what hit 'em." Soos said in excitement before he followed Grunkle Stan to find the perpetrator. "It's always a blast to kick a bunch of gnomes in their tiny faces!" Mabel happily proclaimed tossing her arms up in the air. "Oddly...I agree with that." Flowey retorted as the twins approached Wendy and the flower. "Hey, Mabel Syrup." Wendy greeted Mabel with the Pines girl hopping up one of the stools to reach the counter, "Heya, Wen-Dike!" Mabel returned the greeting enthusiastically with the two then performing their own handshake ending in a fist bump, "Hiya, little man." Wendy turned the greeting to Dipper who smiled a little shyly, "H-hiya, Wendy." Mabel then pulled Flowey over to her across the counter, "And howdy to you my adorable little buttercup!" She said cutely and with a light squeal prompting Flowey to growl at the name, "Mabel...for the last time stop calling me 'buttercup'!" He demanded sternly, but Mabel simply giggled. "Why? You're a precious little teacup of butter is what you are!" She retorted in an odd but cute manner while squishing Flowey's cheeks together as Wendy and Dipper restrained themselves from laughing. Flowey was fighting with all his will not to tear Mabel's hands straight out of her wrists. "So, hey! Uh, Wendy!" Dipper called to the lumberjane who turned to him with a smile, "How's uh...how's things going on over here? In the old uh...shop of gifts or...yeah." Dipper asked her timidly with Wendy glancing to the side in thought, "Mm not that much really. Just the usual business. And that's having a blast with Flowey." Wendy responded with a grin with Mabel cooing at that, "Awww! Look at you two just getting along like besties!" She squealed as she held Flowey by his pot with the flower's expression dropping into a grumpy one. "Hey, it's always fun to make fun of people that buy the stuff here. Never thought it'd be with a flower but hey, it's always rad to have a third party who's not all arms and legs, know what I'm saying?" Wendy chuckled as she nudged Dipper's arm who grew flustered and grinned sheepishly, rubbing his arm as well from where she nudged it.

"Haha! Yeah! Arms and legs that's...that's pretty great." Dipper let out a forced laugh before dropping down in tone a little, "Speaking of besties, I heard you dudes made some new friends." Wendy said referring to the new comers in Gravity Falls. "Oh, we totally did! And those guys are rad-tastical!" Mabel exclaimed buoyantly making Flowey cringe in response. "Though they're kind of uh...special in a sense." Dipper added while rubbing the back of his neck. "Special as in...?" Wendy motioned for him to continue as she was curious. "They're cray cray like we are!" Mabel replied as she set Flowey back on the counter with Wendy being greatly surprised by the revelation, "Whoa-ho! No fooling!?" Mabel shook her head, "No lie, sister." She replied. "Wow. I always thought you guys would be the only ones who're cray cray in a way where it's actually fun to hang out with you." Wendy proclaimed and making Dipper chuckle a little, "Hey, you know us! Always making sure the party stays cray cray with our cray...ness?" He oddly elaborated questioningly with Flowey giving him a stare, "Just from that sentence alone there's more to it than just being cray cray with you." He insulted discreetly prompting Dipper to give him a look of displeasure. "I'd like to meet them sometime. They living here?" Wendy asked them to which they nodded in response, "Yepper peppers!" Mabel replied in her own cheery way. "Their car broke down at first but then after some uh...complications they decided to stay and it turns out they were here mainly for vacation." Dipper also responded with Wendy having a curious brow, "Seriously? Of all places they choose to come here?" She remarked with an amused grin. "I swear that's like me being in the human world overall." Flowey said grouchily with Mabel giving him a light prod on his head, "Oh stop it, Flowey. You know you love it here." Mabel retorted with a grin. "Not for the reasons you'd think, Mabel." Flowey shot back at her. "But you still love it, anyway! So ha!" Mabel returned and sticking her tongue out at him in a silly manner. "I'd love to hit you in the face is more like it..." Flowey muttered with a growl. "Oh, and we're not just friends now...we actually formed our own little club!" Mabel announced with Wendy's brows raising at that, "Really? And how's that working out for ya?" She continued to ask as she leaned on the counter, crossing her legs together while folding her arms. "It's uh...a work in progress. It's only been a week since we met them and...let's just say there're some that aren't exactly buddy-buddy with each other just yet." Dipper answered for her. "I don't think 'yet' is the proper time frame. Because at the rate they'll be going it's never going to be buddy buddy." Flowey corrected him a pessimistic manner. "That's all just a bunch of Pega-Poop. What we're talking about here is a mix between a lot of ingredients to make the perfect friendship drink. You just gotta add in the right stuff, and it's the stuff that has to go in first, then second, mix it in with the third and fourth and KA-BLOOY!" Mabel yelled mimicking an explosion with a jump only for her to fall to the floor.

"You get untold mayhem." Flowey finished for her. "That does sound crazy when you put it like that. But it's more along the lines of the fun kind." Wendy proclaimed with anticipation. "Honestly...? It does sound pretty fun." Flowey agreed with a wicked grin. Wendy heard a notification pop-up noise in her phone, causing her to take her phone out and flip it open. She read the texts she was receiving from Tambry, one of her friends, and her eyes widened a little, "Oh shoot." She cursed under her breath with the twins looking at her in wonder, "What's wrong, Wendy?" Dipper asked her. "Tambry says that Thompson's gonna chug a whole bucket of deviled eggs!" Wendy responded in excitement. "Neato!" Mabel voiced with a wide grin while Flowey only had a look of disgust. "That sounds...messy." Dipper said as he cringed a little at the images he was getting. "You bet your boots it's gonna be messy! There's no way I'm missing this!" Wendy excitedly declared as she put her phone back in, quickly heading out of the gift shop but stopped when she realized something, "Hey, you guys aren't gonna tell Stan about this are you?" Wendy asked them a bit anxiously as she turned to them. Dipper and Mabel smiled before they made a closed-zipper motion with her hands on their lips. Wendy smiled and returned it before she waved to them, "Later, dorks!" She said her goodbyes in a friendly tone and quickly exited the shop, "Bye, Wendy! Have fun with all the egg puke! Hahaha!" Dipper returned the goodbyes though Flowey and Mabel noticed that Dipper was overly cheery and happy as it was not that big of a deal. Dipper let out a light sigh as he grinned though had a pink blush on his cheeks. Mabel and Flowey gave each other sly looks before returning to Dipper, "So, broham...how's the ol' intense romanticizing going, eh?" Mabel asked him deviously making Dipper pause. "Wait what?!" Mabel prodded Dipper's chest repeatedly, "Boopity boop! You trying to bring out that man charm so you could impress Wendy!" She continued to query him with Dipper moving Mabel's hands away, "Wha- No! That's not what it is at all!" Dipper retorted sternly. "Those cherries on your cheeks say otherwise." Flowey said to him with a grin commenting on his blushing cheeks. Dipper's eyes widened and covered his cheeks turning away from the two, "I knew it! You still have a crush on Wendy!" Mabel squealed as she clapped while hopping in place. "No! It's not a crush!" Dipper shot at her as he lowered his cap over his eyes greatly trying to hide his face, "You're right. It's more of an obsession." Flowey mocked with Mabel praising the mock itself, "Ohhhhhhh! Here the comes the burn that burns hotter than the summer heat!" She yelled out prompting Flowey to chuckle.

"Shut up! Look, it's not a crush or an obsession...because I'm pretty sure if it was the second one I'd be convicted for it." Dipper remarked with an anxious expression. "Then what do you call it, bro bro?" Mabel queried him. Dipper had to give it some thought as he was glancing from side to side in order to come up with the proper answer. "Uh...uh...it's more...it's um...it's complicated..." Dipper responded in a struggle. "Doesn't so complicated to me." Flowey said to him with a raised brow. "Flowey's right, brosef. Crushes ain't complicated at all! Unless you're me that is...or a person that's looking at me while I'm crushing." Mabel said with a goofy grin. "It's just complicated, okay?! Besides...after that little experience with Alphys and the time we went in that underground bunker I've learned my lesson so...I don't think there's any point or reason to keep up with this...complication." Dipper elaborated with a hint of sadness behind it. "Aw don't get all frowny facey, Dipper. Eventually, you'll impress Wendy with your nerdy skills." Mabel assured him giving him a light punch to the arm. "Heh, yeah. Maybe in another universe." Dipper retorted with pessimism as he rubbed his arm. "Dipper, come on." Mabel insisted but Dipper shook his head, "Forget it, Mabel. There's no way I'm ever gonna impress Wendy. I mean have you seen her? She's so cool and...awesome. And I'm just..." Dipper said but trailed off not really wanting to describe how he feels about himself, "Itchy?" Mabel answered in question tilting her head to the side. "No...well, yeah. Seriously, Grunkle Stan should put up a bug zapper or something." Dipper said as he scratched his side in discomfort. "Normally, I don't really care about this stuff but if I would...I'd say that it's a waste of time." Flowey spoke up prompting Dipper to look at him, "Huh?" Flowey sighed, "Dipper, this stuff you're feeling...is just a waste of time. It's a distraction. Not to mention that people like Wendy come and go. That's all there is to it." He said to him as Dipper looked down to the ground with a frown. "And besides isn't she like...fifteen years old and you're twelve?" Flowey questioned prompting Dipper to flinch at the reality of it, "Don't rub it in." He told Flowey who blinked, "You should know that I like to rub it in." Mabel shushed him, "Look, broham. When you're thirteen maybe you have a shot of telling her how you feel cause when you leave the one-two you'll be up there with the one-threens!" Mabel said to him joyfully but Dipper did not share that same excitement, "Yeah. Give or take a few months when that happens." He retorted lowly before turning around and walking away, "Where you going?" Mabel asked him. "To see if there's any house trolls." Dipper responded nonchalantly as he walked up the stairs to their rooms.

Flowey and Mabel watched him leave while Mabel could only give him a sympathetic expression. "Well...he's doomed." Flowey commented, causing Mabel to give him a look, "Oh hush up, Flowey. If you had a big crazy crush on someone you'd know how Dipper feels." Mabel said to him with a cross-sour look. "But I wouldn't because I have no soul remember? So, that reality is thrown out the window." Flowey retorted with furrowed brows. "Aw but that don't mean you can love someone as a friend or family member!" Mabel said to him with a cheery wide grin. "Mabel, what part of not having a soul don't you understand?" Flowey questioned her with annoyance. "Flowey just cause you have no soul doesn't mean you're totally empty. I mean look at the times where you got mad, upset, and even happy! Those are emotions! So that proves that even if you don't have a soul you can feel 'em!" Mabel insisted throwing her arms up in the air. "Yeah. But they're all for the wrong reasons. I'm never gonna feel for the right reasons..." Flowey proclaimed in a depressive tone until Mabel picked him up and held him with the flower looking up at her, "That's why I took you in...because I wanna make you feel for the right reasons and prove you wrong." Mabel remarked with a tender smile. Flowey blinked but averted his gaze from her with a scoff. "Mabel...I can't say I appreciate you doing this but...it's been over a month and nothing's really changed. I feel so...empty. And I sometimes think it's only gonna get worse." Flowey voiced in a slightly low tone of voice. "What makes you say that?" Mabel asked him curiously. "I dunno...I always said to myself how dangerous and unforgiving the human world is...and ever since you brought me up here there's been so many dangers but...it's all different. Way different than what I remember at least. It's...kinda weird to explain but-" Flowey was silenced when Mabel put her index finger on his mouth, "Shh. Don't think about the stuff. Just think about all the fun we're gonna have! And all the super duper fun things I'll show you." Mabel said to him with an excited grin. "Is that how you get through life?" Flowey questioned her. "Totes! I never think about the bad things...sometimes I do but it's only for a little while...but even when I do I never let it just grow big and big like bubble gum until it splats in your face. You should try it!" Mabel suggested to him with Flowey sighing as he was in thought for a while, "I know it's only been a month since I got you here. And trust me in this life it's hard but...when you put some effort to it I promise you'll see that it's not so bad." Mabel assured him as Flowey was silent for a while. "Mabel...it's me. It's just going to be so hard. Especially in a life like this...it's all so new and different that...it's so much to take in..." He stated anxiously until Mabel gave one of his petals a light stroke with her finger. "And that's where I come in. Whenever you feel stuck...you can always come to me for help and I'll show ya how easy things get, okay?" Mabel promised as Flowey stared at her for sometime before he gave a brief side glance then nodded once. Mabel smiled and planted a soft kiss between his eyes before she walked over to where the kitchen, "So, what'cha feel like eating today?" Mabel asked him. "Hmm. Do we have any pie by any chance?" Flowey responded with a question. "Sure do!" Mabel answered giddily. "Butterscotch?" Flowey queried further. "Yeppy!" Mabel again answered. "Then let's choke on it." Flowey finished with anticipation. "That's the spirit!" Mabel cheered as they entered the kitchen.

Flowey paused upon hearing a small tiny sound. He looked behind him while Mabel carried him over to the kitchen to see what looked to be some kind of mouse standing on its hind legs. The mouse wiggled its nose, squeaking once before jumping away showing that it was some kind of jumping mouse. Flowey's brows furrowed together in confusion but shrugged it off as he was preparing himself for the butterscotch delicacy. It was now nighttime with it currently being nine o'clock pm. The scene shifted to the lodge where Coraline, Norman, Neil, and Wybie along with Norman's father Perry were staying. Upstairs and in the bathroom was Coraline, brushing her blue hair down with her favorite hairbrush and was wearing her bright orange pajamas. She then opened the cabinet and placed the brush there then closed it before looking at her reflection. She examined her hair for a few moments, until she stuck her tongue out at herself then made a few silly faces. She stopped when she heard knocking on the door. "Coraline! Come on, you've been in there for thirty-five minutes." Perry called out from the other side and sounding aggravated. "I'm just brushing my hair, Mr. Babcock!" Coraline responded in the same annoyed tone of voice. "No one spends thirty-five minutes brushing their hair." Perry retorted rolling his eyes until he paused in realization, "Then again Courtney spends almost half an hour...never mind. Look, just hurry it up in there." He insisted knocking on the door again prompting Coraline to let out a long groan. "You can groan all you want Coraline it's not gonna work." Perry remarked as Coraline took the black comb and placed it on her upper lip before mockingly mimicking Perry's way of talking with the comb being his mustache. She opened the door, stepped out, and gestured for him to use the bathroom, "After you." She offered with a mocking smirk and expression, prompting Perry to shoot her a look. "Thank you." He said in a grumbling tone of voice before entering and closing the door behind him. Coraline walked through the hallway, skipping a little in place absentmindedly, and stepping on the slightly bent portions of the long carpet she walked on. She was about to head into her room, reaching over to the door knob until she froze upon hearing something, her hand never making contact with the knob as it was only a two inches away. She looked over to the side where the hallway continued until it led downstairs to the fireplace. She rose one brow curiously before walking over a bit slowly, and the more she walked the more clear the sounds were until it sounded like someone talking. Upon closer inspection, it actually sounded like Norman talking. She made it to the end only to stop and lean against the wall that was by the rails which made up the stairs. She stood idle for several moments, and it was indeed Norman talking. She assumed he must be talking to Neil or Wybie, that is until she realized that there no responses being made as he continued to converse. She leaned over a bit more until she peeked from the side of the wall and looked over downstairs to see Norman sitting on one of the large red leather chairs, shockingly talking to himself. But from the way he was speaking and expressing himself, it looked as though someone was really there only Coraline could not see them.

Coraline's eyes widened a little with her brows raising as she witnessed Norman presumably talking to himself when in reality it was far from the truth. "Dipper's all right. Sure he's...pretty paranoid. You know those things about the conspiracy theories and all that? He's all over this stuff but...he's cool to hang out with." Norman said speaking of Dipper to the unseen presence. "Hm? Oh, Mabel? Heh, she's something else completely. I mean, not in a bad way...but like uh...think Neil only twenty times more hyperactive and optimistic all the time." Norman said trying to give the best example when he said nothing for a brief second then broke into light laughter, "Yeah, I know, right? I thought it was impossible, too. But hey...after what we've been through it's not really all that crazy." Norman remarked rubbing the back of his neck when he looked ahead, "Huh? The flower? Yeah, his name's Flowey. I know, I know...not really that original but trust me you don't wanna make fun of him for it. He's not exactly the kind of flower you want to have as your enemy." Norman spoke about Flowey while Coraline listened in on the conversation, "Who's he talking to...?" She wondered out loud but just below a whisper. "Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure you'll get used to them sooner or later. I mean...you've been around me and my crazy world...only things just got more crazy but still...if you got used to that then you'll get used to this." Norman continued to say and was about to say something else until he jumped in fright and alarm upon hearing Coraline, "You practicing on what to say for your date with the weirdo twins?" She spoke up. Norman looked up to see her leaning against the railing of the stairs with a look. "C-coraline..! It's just you...jeez don't scare me like that." Norman crossly said to her only for Coraline to snort out a brief laugh, "Where's the fun in that, Norm?" She remarked in a witty manner prompting Norman to shoot her a sour look but she was not fazed, "And no I wasn't practicing for anything." Norman corrected her as he jumped off the chair and walked towards the stairs, "Yeah? Then what were you doing besides talking to yourself?" Coraline questioned him with narrowed eyes causing Norman to be pinned against the back of a corner, stopping when he was at the foot of the stairs, uncertain of how to respond to that, "Um...I uh...was talking to...the stuffed animals?" Norman responded anxiously with Coraline raising one eyebrow up and looked over to the stuffed animals that were mounted on the wall. "Wow. They must be quite the conversationalists, huh?" Coraline cracked with a smirk. "H-heh...yeah." Norman replied tiredly as he continued to walk up the stairs, reaching the top and passing Coraline.

"You know Wybie says that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity. And given how he is I believe it. So, I better not wake up and find you standing over my bed with a knife in your hand." Coraline warned him with a frown. "W-what? No! No, no! I'm not gonna do that! Honest." Norman assured her as he held his hands up with Coraline huffing once, "Good. Because the last time that happened Junior in there lost a tooth and I bruised my hand." She said referring to the time when Neil scared Coraline by wearing a hockey mask and holding a butter knife, which of course earned him a good whack in the face so hard that he lost a tooth despite the mask he was wearing. Norman flinched at the memory of that, "Coraline, you know me better than to do that." He proclaimed with Coraline giving it some thought and found herself agreeing. "Yeah, you're right. But I'm just pointing it out there for future reference." Coraline then retorted with Norman giving her a thumbs up in acknowledgement as he then walked to his room, "Hey...Norman?" Coraline addressed with Norman stopping in his tracks and turning to look at Coraline who had a look of concern on her face, "You know I'm not calling you crazy or anything, right? I mean, at this point with everything that's been going on it's pretty redundant. But...I'm just worried about you." Coraline expressed her concern for her family friend. Norman frowned a little but forced a weak smile, "Y-you don't have to worry about me, Coraline. I'll be fine. I appreciate the concerns though...so thank you." Norman said to her, though Coraline was no fool but she did not want to press the matter on and instead just brushed it aside, "Alright, if you say so, Porcupine. Now head off to bed." Coraline told him in a parental manner prompting Norman to give her a look, "And since when were you the one in charge?" Norman questioned her but in a friendly way. "Since you all voted that I should be in charge of the dork club and because I'm the oldest." Coraline responded with a smug look on her face. "Got me there." Norman chuckled before he opened the door to his room, "Night, Coraline." He said to her with a smile. Coraline bobbing her head once to his direction along with a wave of her hand, "Night, Norm." Coraline responded with a smile as well before Norman entered the room and closed the door behind him. Coraline's smile then faded before she took one last look down where Norman was and where he was talking to whatever unseen figure that was down there. She inspected the place for a while before walking back to her room, not wanting to waste time looking for any ghosts that probably are not even there to begin with. Though Coraline did encounter ghosts herself, and thus believed that there truly were ghosts lurking about. Even so, she will look into this matter some other time, and perhaps at a time where Norman might not be inadvertently put on a spotlight of ridicule. She closed the lights for the downstairs area, the door to her room being heard open, and then shut. When she did, a spectral being appeared floating high above the ground then hovered over to where Coraline was. It was a ghost, and the ghost of a little girl with long blackish brown hair, pale blue eyes, pale skin, thick eyebrows, and wears a dark grey dress with a white collar and red shoes. It was the same little girl that aided Norman back when they were on the hunt for Doctor Loboto.

She looked back to where Coraline had left, tilting her head a little before looking to the side with a concerned expression, and that concern was directed towards Norman. Thinking that if he decides to tell about his gift to Coraline and the others, they might not believe him and just see him as insane. She looked back to the hallway with her expression shifting to a stern one somewhat before vanishing from sight completely. Much later on, everyone was sound asleep. Wybie and Neil slept in the same room with the two boys on separate beds; Neil wore his stripped baby blue pajamas, and held a bag of corn chips while suckling on his thumb. Wybie had black blue pajamas with a nail and bolt pattern. Coraline slept in her own room while having a nightlight on. Perry was downstairs sleeping on the large couch and had a blanket on, snoring loudly in his sleep. Norman was sleeping in his own room as well wearing zombie themed pajamas, however, unlike the rest of the bunch, Norman's sleep was neither sound nor peaceful. His face was trickling with sweat, his brows furrowing together as his eyes became tight occasionally while he moved around in his sleep. He let out small noises of discomfort which soon gave way to distress, for deep in his mind he could hear echoing voices all murmuring or outright shouting and from the sound of it, they were all making comments towards Norman about his 'gift' which made him believe that it was more of a curse than a gift. In the beginning he could hear the disapproving tones of his father when he was made aware of this ability to see and speak with the dead, then it was the students at school, until it expanded out to the townspeople themselves. Images of the people at his hometown would flash, showing brief moments of ridicule and odd looks from them whenever Norman would pass by. The dream was slowly starting to shift into that of a nightmare, and rightfully so as well. It starts with what looked to be Norman walking towards a small door in the wall inside a room of sorts and was seen from a first-person perspective.

Norman walked towards the door and slowly reached out to open it. He paused when he heard what sounded like the meow of a cat, and looked around but there was no cat in sight. So, he moved forward to open the small door but before he could make contact and was a mere centimeter away, the door suddenly swung open and a green flash of light erupted outward which showed Coraline and Wybie along with Raz and Lili, his best friend Neil and the twins being entangled in what looked to be giant strings, while being pulled upwards at terrifying speed as they screamed out in distress and terror, flailing their arms in a desperate attempt to escape. Another scene flashed which showed clothing buttons raining down from above, but the one that stood out was a flower of sorts, falling and having its petals shredded and torn. The scene then shifted to a black and white atmosphere as the buttons fell on numerous people below but the outlines of the people were wiggly and white along with those that put out their features while the rest of them were black like some Gothic comic book. However, what was disturbing was that these all looked to be children and had buttons on their eyes. The buttons themselves looked like they were actually sewn on them. Norman, still in first-person perspective, backed away from all this in sheer fright until suddenly both of his arms were ensnared by these strings, then his legs, which then pulled him down to the ground pinning him there. Norman struggled fiercely but to no avail. The final scene showed a large arachnoid being making its way towards Norman, obscured by shadow only to lean over as the faint light from wherever revealed little bits of her appearance and features. A wide disturbing toothy grin appeared on her with her also having button eyes but were colored yellow. She brought up her hands which were clawed and metallic, one being pristine gold, and had a sewing needle in one hand connected to a thread and a button in the other hand. This spider-like woman slowly began to lower the sharp needle towards Norman's eye and the last thing he ever saw were his friends joining in to observe while they all had buttons for eyes themselves. This prompted Norman to bolt up from his sleep with a brief scream of terror. He panted heavily, before quickly inspected his face then his eyes, and was deeply relieved to see that no buttons were sewn on them. He breathed a few more times heavily until he exhaled before flopping back down on the bed. He slapped his hands on his face and wiped it down slowly tugging his eye lids and lips with him. "...what the heck was that?" Norman voiced anxiously as well as curiously. He knew his dreams were not any normal dreams, but were actually some sort of premonitions. This did not make him all the more relaxed given that in the dream, or rather nightmare, everyone he knew had buttons sewn over their eyes. The image alone made him cringe and rub his arms together while also scaring him. If these were premonitions, then both he and his friends are danger. Norman did not really like to think about these kind of things especially when it comes to his sleep as it really destroys his sleeping pattern. At this point he is amazed that he has not developed any form of insomnia. He was now anxious to go back to sleep but he could not fight it this time as he allowed his fatigue to overcome him. Unbeknownst to him, a mouse similar to the one Flowey saw in the Mystery Shack, was observing him a few feet away from his bed. It squeaked a few times before it hopped away and squeezed itself underneath the crack of the door.

 **I don't own Gravity Falls, Coraline, ParaNorman, Undertale, or Psychonauts. Read and Review.**


	3. Other Fantasy

The night remained intact though it was still significantly late and at this point half of the world is sleeping by now. Inside the quarters of the Pines family, Dipper and Mabel were soundly asleep in their room in their pajamas. Flowey of course was between their beds on a nightstand that was below the triangular window, though he was nearest to Mabel and is slumbering soundly as well. What was noticeable, and rather adorable, was the small nightcap on his head or rather over one of his petals made for him by Mabel herself and had a significant portion of his body buried within the soil of the pot while the remainder of his head was out and simply laying on the soft miniature grass that grew in the pot itself. Dipper as usual had the journal as well as a few of his notes and pen scattered around him on his bed and not bothering to cover up with his blanket, indicating that he likely stayed up for sometime while Mabel already drifted off into dreamworld with Flowey following not long after. They also slept rather quickly as well, though that's because they chowed down on Butterscotch pies until their faces, or in Flowey's case androecium, were smothered with the pies' contents. A few short moments pass when a strange sound is heard within range of the twins. Dipper was the first to pick it up, much to his chagrin as he needed to sleep, with his facial features twitching a little and his brows furrowing briefly with each response to the small sound. The sound itself sounded like a squeak and one you would normally hear from a small animal or in this case a rodent of sorts. Dipper begrudgingly opened his eyes with a light groan, blinking slowly twice, until he sat up with a yawn and rubbed his eyes. He heard the squeaking sounds again, now being half-awake as he inspected their room for a moment, looking around then to the floor, leaning over the bed to make sure nothing was underneath him. He heard the sounds more clearly now, prompting him to look ahead when his eyes fully opened upon noticing what looked to be a small mouse. The mouse itself had white fur, but pitch black eyes, and looked to be standing on its hind legs while devouring a crumb of sorts, likely from the pie Flowey and Mabel annihilated and left a trail of edible corpses in their wake. Dipper blinked and his expression dropped, "Great...first bats, then house trolls, and now mice." He groaned in aggravation before he hopped off the bed gently, "Once again ol' Dipper Pines has to come in and do the job of what an exterminator should do but nooo apparently Grunkle Stan says that this stuff is more suited for kids because he won't pay big bucks for some professional to come in and get rid of the small critters." Dipper continued to complain with him mockingly mimicking his great uncle's words in his grouchy hoarse voice.

The mouse's nose wiggled several times with a few squeaks. "Okay little guy...if you'd just be nice this time and just come with me I'll-" Dipper sighed as he picked up a mitten with cartoon puppy faces on it, preparing to capture the mouse, until the mouse ran off by jumping away like a miniature kangaroo. "And of course you run away. Why did it have to be this late at night...?" Dipper growled before he ran after the jumping mouse. The rodent hopped down the stairs with Dipper run down as fast as his legs could take him despite the fatigue, the mouse then scurried over to the left going around the end of the staircase all while Dipper was giving chase, "Get back here!" Dipper demanded sternly as he attempted to grab the jumping mouse. The mouse was then seen hopping speedily through a long hallway while Dipper was panting a little and was already starting to sweat, "I'm getting real tired of the whole Tom and Jerry routine!" Dipper complained with the mouse running to the right going inside another room squeezing itself through the crack of the open of the door with Dipper stopping, skidding briefly to a halt and swung open the door. He looked around and saw that he was inside the parlor where Wax Stan's memorial was once held and where the haunted wax figurines revealed themselves to Dipper and Mabel before attempting to kill them. He heard the squeaking mouse standing by Wax Stan's coffin before it then hopped behind it with Dipper smirking, "Nowhere to run now." He said with a smug look as he quickly rushed over to the coffin, moving it to the side with a grunt and two pushes. He saw what looked to be a small door that was open by a mere centimeter, and quite likely where the mouse is hiding. Dipper frowned and pushed the coffin of Wax Stan further before leaning down and opening the small door. However, once he does Dipper's expression shifts from a tired and irritated look to one of utter bewilderment and shock. His eyes widen and his mouth is now hung open a little at what he was witnessing in front of him. What he thought would be a small dusty and web-covered crawl space, turned out to be something far more than that. It was a long, dark, cylindrical corridor in the crawl space's place. There was a cold, musty smell coming through the open doorway: it smelled like something very old and very slow. But the corridor itself did not share nor give off the same impression of the smell, for it was seen glowing in variety of colors but those were mostly ranged from purple to dark red and dark green. "Whoa..." Dipper voiced out lowly in astonishment. His brows furrowed together before looking behind him then back to this strange and oddly tempting corridor inside the wall. At this point his danger senses would tell him not to go in but his curiosity spoke louder than his instincts and thus, he decided that he would investigate this strange occurrence that he discovered, and that is by crawling through the corridor.

While crawling through with his hands and legs, Dipper could feel that the fabric he was feeling felt like sheets of paper, but they were not exactly the rough kind. They felt smooth and soft, but at the same time a little silky like a spider's web. Dipper continued to crawl through the door with his expression never shifting, instead remaining amazed as well as intrigued by what was surrounding him now. Dipper had no idea what he was doing, though he did he was crawling through some magical tunnel that was leading to Lord knows where at this point. There was one side of him that desperately wanted to smack him at the back of the head for just blindly going through a strange colorful tunnel yet there was another that whispered to keep going and discover what awaits at the other side. Dipper has always been adventurous and curious so it is no surprise that he would just outright walk inside a corridor inside the wall of the parlor that was just randomly stationed there. But he was also cautious as well, for given his experiences with things similar to this, it always led to something rather sinister but for some reason the vibe and aura that this was giving off was neither sinister nor was it dark. It was in fact alluring, almost as if the air in this place was manipulating his senses and assuring him that there was nothing to be cautious about. Eventually, he made to the end and opened the small door that was similar to the one he found when he first discovered the tunnel inside the Mystery Shack parlor. And once he stepped outside, he was baffled to see what was at the other side: the parlor. "What the..?" Dipper wondered in befuddlement as there was no magical realm where strange entities roamed, it was the parlor. The same parlor of the Mystery Shack, though the difference being was that it looked more refined and polished unlike the one back at the other side. The fire place was still there and was lit ablaze, by the fireplace were two large red chairs with the round table in the middle and a large carpet that was spread all across the parlor itself. At the opposite side of the fireplace was a large bookshelf that of course had an assortment of books. "When did Grunkle Stan make renovations for the parlor? Wait...did Grunkle Stan ever want a renovation for the parlor?" Dipper wondered to himself until he realized, "And why am I even asking myself these questions when I know there's no one here to answer...?" Dipper continued to ask himself until his face dropped in annoyance. He crawled out completely and stood up, dusting his hands off as he examined the newly refined parlor. He also noticed that the coffin for Wax Stan was gone prompting him to look behind him then upwards to see the picture that once depicted his Grunkle Stan and his wax doppelganger was instead replaced with Grunkle Stan standing victoriously over a colossal brown bear and wearing a poacher outfit. Dipper took two steps back until he heard his great uncle call him, "Dipper! You there?" Dipper jumped a little in alarm as he really did not expect anyone to be up this late at night.

"Dipper...I know you're there, young man. Come to the kitchen will ya?" Grunkle Stan addressed from the kitchen with Dipper's face contorting to one of sheer confusion now, especially since Grunkle Stan actually used the term 'young man' to Dipper. Dipper then walked out of the parlor then moved along the hallway. Dipper had no idea what to think about this now, and was even more stuck considering that the hallway he was walking in was not exactly run down with several planks of wood missing, instead it was also refined like it was rebuilt and made brand new, the wallpaper being decorated with red flowery patterns, along with several large paintings of obscure and abstract shapes. This was definitely not in the shack and he should know since he had been living here for several months now. It was almost as if he entered some kind of alternate universe where everything is finely polished and redecorated instead of the old rundown shack he was familiar with. Dipper left the hallway, before crossing the end of the staircase that led up to their room, and he was now wondering what his and Mabel's room looked like if everything here was so neat and tidy. He was nearing the kitchen when he heard strange humming coming from inside it. The closer he got the clearer it was becoming when he realized it was Grunkle Stan muttering incoherent lyrics of this strange tune. What was bizarre about that is that Grunkle Stan does not exactly mutter he just outright sings it only when he is in the mood for it. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw Grunkle Stan cooking something on the stove and was wearing a dark crimson robe with a black furry trim. He was not in his typical 'non-business' attire which consists of a plain old dirty undershirt. He also looked to be standing a bit upright instead of his hunched position. "Grunkle Stan...? What're you here in the middle of the night? I thought I told you no snacks this late cause you'll get-" Dipper asked him as Grunkle Stan slowly turned to him and when he did, Dipper jumped back slightly with a look of shock and disturbance. "There you are, kiddo! Where've ya been?" Grunkle Stan asked him with a large grin, but what was particularly noticeable was that Stan's eyes did not have the normal eyes but instead looked to have buttons for eyes instead. Black buttons on his eyes or rather in place of his eyes. His face in question did not look aged at all, but instead it was clean with his teeth being pearly white. Dipper's face was frozen with horror, "Y...wh...who a-are you..?" Dipper questioned a little fearfully with the button-eyed Grunkle Stan tilting his head a little, "Who am I? Why I'm Santa Claus!" Grunkle Stan announced until he laughed a little, "I'm just messing with ya, kiddo! It's me. Your Grunkle Stan!" He introduced as if Dipper had amnesia but Dipper was no fool as he knew that his great uncle did not have buttons for eyes, "N-no...you're not my great uncle...my Grunkle Stan doesn't have b-b-bu..." Dipper attempted to point out the obvious but was too anxious as he stuttered upon speaking of the reality that was before him. "B-b-b-buttons? Haha! I know, I know, pretty sweet ain't it?" Grunkle Stan said as he tapped one of the buttons on his eye.

"But to answer your question yeah I know. That's why I'm your Other Grunkle Stan." Other Stan introduced himself with Dipper's mouth remaining hung open with eyes as wide as dinner plates, having no words for this. The 'other' Grunkle Stan? What does that even mean? Was this supposed to be some kind of alternate version of Stan Pines but having buttons for eyes instead? "Say, now that you're here why don't you be a sport and go fetch your Other sister, yeah?" Other Stan told him as he put the mittens on his hands, preparing to remove the roast beef from the oven. Dipper was still in too much shock to move or even acknowledge what this Other Stan was saying at this point. The Other Stan looked at him still with the same gentle yet somehow eerie smile, "Well, what'cha waiting for?" Other Stan asked him as if nothing was completely wrong or downright disturbing, even to where it looks like he does not even notice how disturbed and confused Dipper is by all this. "I...I uh..." Dipper attempted to speak up as Other Stan walked over to him, "I know, the food looks delicious. And I promise you'll get to fill up that iron horse o'yours as much as you want just as soon as your sister joins us. Wouldn't want her to starve now, right?" Other Stan said to him with Dipper feeling a uncomfortable being this close to him as Other Stan was next to him and having a hand on his shoulder. "Come on now, sport. Get up there and fetch your sister. Oh and make sure she brings the flower with her too!" Other Stan said as he gently pushed Dipper outside of the kitchen and inside the living room in order to retrieve Mabel. Dipper backed away step by step as he watched this other version of his great uncle remove the roast beef from the oven. He shakily then held the railing of the stairs and pulled himself upward in order to climb the stairs. His mind was jumbled to the point where he had no coherent answer to all this and was unable to get a proper conclusion to this entire ordeal. It was no long until he realized that if this was a perfect bizarro version of his real world where his great uncle has buttons for eyes than that would mean that Mabel too has buttons for eyes including Flowey as well. He reached the top of the staircase and soon began to approach his room, or rather the other version of his room. Upon reaching, he opened the door and was shocked to see that instead of the small spaced room, his and Mabel's bedroom had much wider space with the beds facing each other angularly. He then saw what looked to be Mabel sitting on a large white furry round carpet in the middle of the room with her back facing Dipper. She was sitting cross-legged and looked to be knitting a sweater which was one of the many hobbies she would regularly do. She was humming a tune similar to the one that Grunkle Stan was when he first met him in the kitchen.

"Uh...M-Mabel?" Dipper called out to her anxiously and of course, the moment she turned around Dipper's expectations came to light; she too had buttons for eyes. The instant she saw him she gasped in elation, "Dipping-sauce!" Mabel squealed as she quickly ran over and embraced her brother in a large hug making him grunt. After a brief moment she released him and took a step back, "How's my favorite broski in the whole wide world doing?" Other Mabel asked him with a large grin which of course made Dipper really uncomfortable especially with those buttons for eyes. This was the 'other' Mabel but she seems to be acting like the Mabel he knows, and was wearing a dark blue starry sweater. What he also noticed that this Mabel was without braces. Dipper was too engrossed into his thoughts that he failed to answer Other Mabel's question. She tilted her head with one eyebrow raised until she snapped her fingers twice in front of his face knocking him out of his trance, "Hellooo? Earth to Dipper." Other Mabel addressed with Dipper blinking twice and shaking his head a little, "S-sorry I'm just...just spacing out from...from uh..." Dipper was beginning to trail off again as Other Mabel was waiting for him to finish, "Frooooooom this totally fabulous sweater I made you?" Other Mabel suddenly whipped out startling Dipper. He looked at the sweater and saw that it was dark orange but had a picture of a large brain with electrical cords patterned around it giving off a surge of electricity. Below the portrait of the brain were the words, "Brains of the Bunch". Dipper blinked and stared at the sweater then to the Other Mabel, "You were always the brains of the operations, brother. So, that's why I made this to make sure you're cemented as the smartest pickle in the history of ever!" Other Mabel proclaimed with a joyous grin. Dipper was actually beginning to feel a little touched by this even though this was not exactly his real sister but some kind of alternate version of the Mabel he knows. "Go on! Try it!" Other Mabel urged him before he then slowly took the sweater from her, inspecting it for a moment then looked back up to Other Mabel who continued to motion him to try it on while her black button eyes gave off a shimmer. Dipper gulped silently in his throat before putting the sweater on slowly. He looked over himself with Other Mabel squealing in delight, "I knew it would fit you in more ways than one!" She remarked with a joyful hop. Dipper still was unable to say another regarding the sweater, "Hey! You're not forgetting about me, aren't you?" He then heard a familiar voice speak up from behind Other Mabel prompting him to look over with Other Mabel turning as well. Over there on the rug was none other than Flowey, or in this case it was Other Flowey as he also had buttons for eyes. "F-Flowey...?" Dipper addressed in bewilderment. "Howdy, Dipper! And yes, it is I! The one and only...well, that's not really true I'm just the only other one." Other Flowey remarked with Other Mabel snorting out a laugh, "Oh, Flowey, you're so silly."

Other Mabel walked over to him and picked him up by his pot. "And of course we wouldn't forget about you. Besides, he did help me with the sweater." She said shocking Dipper even further, "Wait w-what? But...Flowey can't even knit...and he doesn't even like-" He was prepared to say when Other Flowey let out a dramatic gasp, "These claims, Dipper Pines!" Other Flowey faked being insulted with Other Mabel giggling, "He does like to knit, bro bro! And he especially loves the sweater I make for him or just in general." She revealed with Dipper blinking once as he continued to stare with Other Flowey smiling widely, "Hey, Mabel. Looks like he's not buying it. Well, it's a good thing he showed up cause otherwise I wouldn't have shown him this." Other Flowey then released what looked to be thin vine-like tendrils from his pot, which made Dipper step back in alarm. The vines then reached down, and picked up the sewing needle and wool, "Now observe and be amazed!" Other Flowey declared as Other Mabel set him down before in a span of just several seconds, rapidly knitted together a purple sweater which had the image of Dipper and Mabel with Flowey in the middle all smiling and having buttons over their eyes. Other Mabel clapped and cheered while Dipper could only stare in disbelief, "Thank you. Thank you, I'll be here all week." Other Flowey bowed before his audience before he offered the sweater to Other Mabel, "And this lovely sweater goes out to this lovely young lady." Other Mabel blushed at this, "Awww, such a gentle flower." She cooed as she gently took the sweater while Dipper continued to stare in sheer bewilderment at what he was seeing. Other Mabel picked Other Flowey up before turning to look at Dipper, "So, Dipper, what brings you up here?" Other Mabel asked him to which Dipper stammered briefly for a reply until, "Oh u-uh...Grunkle Stan said that um...dinner's ready." He responded with the two others anticipating the meal, "Yummy yum yums! I'm starving! Anybody else? Raise your hands!" Other Mabel proclaimed with Other Flowey raising his many tendrils up while they all wore gloves, "We are!" Other Flowey responded with a cheesy grin prompting Other Mabel to laugh at his antics. Dipper could not help but crack a very small smirk at this only for it to drop as this felt like he was in the real world yet at the same time it was blended with things that were...perfect. And these were the type of perfect that he actually wanted ever since he came to Gravity Falls, in a strange sense at least. A while later, Dipper and Other Mabel along with Other Flowey and Other Stan were in the kitchen as Other Stan set down the roast beef in front of them while Other Mabel and Other Flowey gazed at the food hungrily. Dipper was sitting at the right with Other Mabel next to him and Other Flowey being beside her while Other Stan was by the opposite end of the table. The food that was there consisted of roast beef, mashed potatoes, sweet peas, corn on the cob, egg rolls, and butterscotch pies.

"Gotta say, Dipper. That's one fine sweater you got there." Other Stan complimented the sweater Dipper was wearing. "Cause I'm the one that made it with some help from my flowery assistant!" Other Mabel remarked with a wide smile as Other Flowey chuckled, "What can I say? When we're a team we become the ultimate sweater knitting duo." Other Flowey proclaimed before he gazed at the food. "Golly, this stuff looks so good I could just eat it all in one go." Other Flowey remarked hungrily. "Hey, hey, save some for the rest of us, you little dandelion." Other Stan chuckled as he tucked a piece of the handkerchief in his collar, the real Grunkle Stan does not do that at all he would just dive right into the food without a second thought. He was also not that friendly towards Dipper either, especially with the way he interacted with Flowey just now as he knows that the two of them greatly dislike each other. This version of Mabel is mostly the same though she was a bit less cheery as she was normally overly cheery and optimistic which tends to get somewhat annoying sometimes. This Flowey of course was not the Flowey he knows back in his world, as this Flowey was actually friendly and nice, something which the real Flowey rarely exhibits or does not at all. "We'll all get a chance to chow down on this delicious grub! Won't we, Dipper?" Other Mabel asked her brother who did not respond for a moment until he nodded timidly, "Y-yeah..we sure will." Dipper responded nervously which is something that the other versions noticed, "You alright there, kiddo?" Other Stan asked him with a concerned frown. "Huh..? Oh, uh...yeah I'm fine just.." Dipper responded though he was unable to find the right word for what he feeling right now. "He's probably hungry, Grunkle Stan." Other Mabel proclaimed with a grin. "Well then what're we waiting for? Chinese new year? Come on, let's all clear this stuff off the table in one sweep!" Other Stan declared as he rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Other Flowey excitedly said before he took a scoop of the mashed potatoes, while Mabel was reaching for some of the lasagna and Grunkle Stan was pouring a drink for himself. Dipper watched as the alternate version of his sister, great uncle, and his flower friend were devouring their respective meals. Dipper's face remained to be anxious, "Okay, Dipper...you woke up and chased a mouse that led you through some weird tunnel and ended up being in a weird but...opposite version of your real world. And here I thought things couldn't get anymore crazy...except for me cause I'm still talking to myself." Dipper thought to himself and cringed at the last part. "Hey, bro bro! Try the chicken! It's really good!" Other Mabel told Dipper with some food still in her mouth. "Don't talk with your mouth full, sweetie." Other Stan told her.

Dipper reached over and removed a chicken wing, then took a bite out of it. His eyes closed shut thinking that it might be poisoned or drugged, however, he felt nothing but the sweet and exquisite taste of the chicken which made his eyes snap open at how delicious it was, "W-wow...Grunkle Stan this...this chicken is really good." Dipper commended him for his cooking as he chewed which Other Stan grinned at, "Glad you think so. Stayed up all dang night to make that but most of all to make it special for ya, kiddo." He said to him and Dipper cracked a light smile, even though this was not exactly his world and this was not his family, he did feel touched by their words and kind thoughts. "It's...just so weird though." Dipper proclaimed a little lowly which Other Stan was confused by, "Whaddya mean by that?" He wondered curiously. "I mean that...my real Grunkle Stan doesn't even know how to cook good food...I mean the best we get is canned beans and...cereal sometimes." Dipper remarked timidly as he rubbed the back of his neck, "We know it's a lot to take in but don't worry...you'll enjoy it here." Other Flowey assured him. "But..w-what exactly is here? Okay that sounded really dumb.." Dipper shrunk down a little in his seat which Other Stan laughed at, "Don't be like that, sport! It's the shack! It's your home and this is your family. What else could it be?" Dipper glanced to the side in thought before staring back at the other Grunkle Stan, "I'm pretty sure no one has buttons for eyes back in my world...just saying.." Dipper pointed out. "Pfft, these buttons are about as normal as having actual eyes, brother." Other Mabel remarked before taking a bite out of her lasagna. "Sure, it's freaky to you but you'll get used to it." Other Flowey said to him before he then took a bite out of the mashed potatoes. "You know I...I didn't even know that I had an Other Grunkle...or even an Other Sister or...flower." Dipper said in bewilderment. "Doi, everyone has an Other Grunkle, sister, and flower!" Other Mabel bouncily proclaimed. "Well...not exactly everyone, Mabel." Dipper corrected. "Maybe not everyone...but it can be everyone. In short, everyone has an other family." Other Stan said in a rather ominous tone of voice. "Really?" Dipper said in surprise. "Yep. And once you're done eating we could out and play a game!" Other Stan suggested with an excited tone of voice. "A game...? You mean like...baseball or something?" Dipper wondered. "Oh golly I love baseball!" Other Flowey proclaimed happily. "Can we please go out and play baseball, Grunkle Stan?!" Other Mabel pleaded with Other Stan chuckling, "Of course we can, sweetheart." Other Mabel and Other Flowey high fived each other. Dipper looked out the window and saw that it was pitch black outside, "Um, it's pretty late to be playing baseball don't you think?" Dipper questioned with a raised brow. "It doesn't have to be baseball, bucko. It can be any game you want." Other Stan offered him as he leaned on the table with his elbows.

"Oh...uh...well, I'd love to play but I...I better get back home to my other family." Dipper said as he gently got off the chair. "But we're your other family." Other Stan stated with a grin. "No I mean like my 'other' other family. You know the ones that came first and all that." Dipper clarified as he took some slow steps back only to jump a little when he bumped into Other Mabel who waved to him with a goofy grin upon turning to meet her button-eyed gaze. "I better get going. Thanks for the food though." Dipper said as he walked past Other Mabel a little while Other Stan stood up, "Anytime, kiddo. Mabel, be a sweetheart and take Dipper up to your rooms. And you better be in bed yourself, young lady." He told her to which she saluted, "Let's go, bro bro!" Other Mabel said grabbing his hand and leading Dipper upstairs to their rooms leaving behind Other Stan and Other Flowey who was still occupied in chewing his food while the two watched them leave. The door to their bedroom opened as Other Mabel stepped aside to let Dipper in. "Um, Mabel...or other Mabel...I think I should go back to the door instead.." Dipper said to her a little nervously. "Nah. You don't have to, Dipper. This is all made up, anyway." Other Mabel informed him much to his befuddlement, "Wait wha-" Dipper was about to question the reality of this only for Other Mabel to cut him off, "Don't go all making your crazy theories about this, bro. Save it for tomorrow cause you need your beauty sleep!" Other Mabel said as she guided him to his bed. Dipper was about to climb his bed only to stop and look at Other Mabel with a skeptical look, "How do I know that this is all just a dream? I mean...everything...it just feels so real." Dipper continued to question only for Other Mabel to cover his mouth, "Shushies, little Dip. Sleepy time now." Other Mabel said. Dipper did not want to press the matter further thinking that he might regret it. So, he decided to climb up to his bed and hope that this was all a dream but at the same time he hoped it was not. Deep down he was actually enjoying this place, even if there major differences in contrast to the things that were back in his world. Dipper sighed as he laid down on his bed with Other Mabel tucking him in with a smile as Other Stan walked in holding Other Flowey. Dipper immediately felt his slumber returning to him given that he was rudely awakened by the sound of the mouse he was chasing. The feeling of the soft mattress and pillow instantly absorbed his being into the land of peaceful slumber with his eyes already growing heavy and eventually drifted off into sleep. All this while his other family observed him and having smiles on their faces, "See you soon." The thee of them said in unison in soft and tender tones of voices yet there was something rather dark deep within those three words. Dipper was now fully asleep as the world around him, or the other world, was engulfed in darkness and was plunged into his dreamland...or other dreamland he was not sure but did not care, he just wanted to sleep.

Morning eventually arrives with the sun breaking through the setting night as its beautiful rays were cast across the landscape of Gravity Falls. Dipper was still soundly asleep until his eyes blinked open before yawning and stretching his arms out. He slowly sat up and scratched his back while having a tired look on his face, that is until he remembered that dream he had causing his eyes to snap open with a light gasp. He quickly examined his surroundings to see if he was really in this other world until he for some reason breathed a deep sigh of relief to notice that he was actually back into his own world given that this room was messy and a bit run down instead of it being neat and tidy like in the other world in his dream. But he wondered if it was really a dream, as he could clearly hear, see, and even touch everything there in that dream. When the Other Mabel grabbed his hand he could actually feel it, like physically feel that she was grabbing his hand. But then again it could just be the power of his mind playing tricks on him, after all, the human mind is a powerful tool in of its own. "I'm back...I'm back!" Dipper exclaimed in joy when he then heard Grunkle Stan calling for him, "Dipper! Get your paranoid rump down here! It's breakfast time and I'm already getting hungry from just making your food. So get down here before you starve!" Stan shouted as he was cooking some omelettes in the kitchen with Mabel sitting by the table in her pajamas along with Flowey. Dipper blinked and rubbed his eyes, he was definitely back in his own world. Meanwhile, at the lodge where Coraline and the others were staying, the rest of the gang had already awoken from their slumber, mainly Wybie and Neil whom were sitting on the couch watching one of Wybie's favorite movies Iron Man 2. The two boys also had bowls of cereal in their hands with the cereal being Peanut Butter Crunch. "Hey, Wybie?" Neil spoke up with Wybie giving him a small noise in response as he was chewing his cereal. "You're pretty smart, right? If you decide to make a suit of armor are you gonna be all rich to where you have a bunch of hot ladies getting all up in your grill?" Neil asked him with Wybie spitting out some of his cereal to that coughing a little, "W-what!? Dude, no! That's just trash celebrities do all the time! I'm just a plain and simple guy who cares about the environment and one who just so happens to have a fascination with mechanical stuff." Wybie said to him with Neil nodding in understanding, "Ohhh! So, you're like the master of the mechanical stuff?" Neil questioned further. "Considering that I just built a bazooka to trap a psycho doctor and a large w-wererabbit, yes I am the master of the mechanical stuff." Wybie smugly said. "Because after that fiasco we can always rely on the master of the mechanical stuff." Coraline suddenly popped up from behind the couch startling Wybie and making him drop his cereal to the ground, "Woopsie." Coraline said not-so innocently. "Gee...thanks, Jonsie." Wybie grumbled as he gave her a look. "No problem, Grumpula. And you can always get more so you could feed that mechanical brain of yours." Coraline remarked as she ruffled his curly brown hair making him flinch.

"Excuse me, Coraline. I pretty much invented the one thing that saved our butts last week." Wybie proclaimed. "I know. Because I'm the one that gave you the idea in the first place." Coraline retorted with Wybie looking at her with a shocked expression, "No you didn't! D-Dipper was the one that did!" Wybie corrected her a little firmly. "Yes, he did. And I'm the one that greenlit it since I'm the one that was voted as leader of the spook crew or whatever we're called." Coraline continued to retort casually as she walked around the couch and hopped on one of the chairs crossing her legs together, "The Mystery Kids!" Neil announced in delight startling Wybie a little and making Coraline roll her eyes once. "A-also for the record, Jonsie...Norman was the one that greenlit the idea." Wybie continued to challenge her albeit timidly. "What? You questioning my leadership now, Wyborn?" Coraline shot at him with a teasing smirk and look. "W-what? No! No no! I'm not I'm just-" Wybie stammered for a real answer as he fiddled with his fingers nervously looking away and not wanting to make eye contact with Coraline. "Haha! You're so easy. Speaking of Norman...has anyone seen him?" Coraline asked the two boys with them glancing at each other, Wybie shaking his head, then Neil turning back to Coraline, "Probably still in his room getting his beauty sleep." Neil answered. "Seriously? It's like almost twelve he should be up by now." Coraline said with an annoyed tone of voice, "Whoa, chill, Coraline. A man's gotta have his beauty sleep so he could wake up and just let the world bask in his masculine and testosterone induced beauty." Neil remarked in an odd tone of voice. "Neil, if you keep talking like that I'm gonna have to skip breakfast." Coraline said with a disgusted tone of voice. "You just can't ever appreciate our struggles, Coraline." Neil said to her with a dramatic tone of voice. "Probably because I don't really care." Coraline retorted nonchalantly when the door upstairs was heard opening and out came Norman Babcock in his zombie themed pajamas and slippers. He was tired and really did not feel like waking up and instead would rather just go back to bed. He had rings underneath his eyes and barely could keep them open while he shuffled along the floor with his arms hung low acting much like a zombie himself. "Sounds like Norman's up." Neil blatantly stated the obvious. "Anyone can recognize that moan and walk. Sheesh he even wakes up as a zombie...the kid's got issues." Coraline remarked as she crossed her arms. "We've all got our own issues, Jonsie. The zombie stuff isn't something to be called an issue...it's actually pretty cool in my book." Wybie said with a light smile. "Coming from you I wouldn't be surprised." Coraline cracked. In the bathroom, Norman closed the cabinet as he was preparing to brush his teeth. He mainly used his electric toothbrush as he always did. Judging by the look on his face, that nightmare really took a toll on him given that it was not any ordinary nightmare but one where it seemed like it was a premonition of impending dangers. And this one involved his friends and himself though this nightmare was rather odd in addition with disturbing.

It had images of buttons and a large arachnoid creature sewing these buttons into someone's eyes. He thought facing zombies and dealing with the ghosts would be the normal supernatural type but then it goes to having to deal with an insane surgeon and now some kind of female humanoid spider that has a fondness for sewing buttons into people's eyes. At the very least he hoped and prayed that it was just some bizarre nightmare that was inspired by a movie that he witnessed sometime ago. Though at the same time it was difficult for him to accept that given that it did involve his friends and possibly showed their fates in a brutal fashion. In the end he made it downstairs and met up with the rest of his friends, "There he is! It's now the full trilogy of Dawn of the Dorks." Coraline quipped as Norman walked past her before sitting down on the chair that was opposite to where Coraline was sitting, "Norman! Norman you just got to the best part! Iron Man just got shot with a tank and then he shot the tank back with a tiny missile and it went clink...but suddenly BAM! Tank's all gone!" Neil exclaimed in delight jumping up a little on the couch until he felt his stomach growl, "Uh oh...all this excitement and action's now putting me out on the field. Be right back!" Neil quickly rushed over to the bathroom. Norman did not bother to listen instead pretending like he was given how fatigue he currently is. "Hey, Norman. You gonna take the last of the Peanut Butter Crunch? Might as well say something before it hits the bowels." Coraline said to him but Norman simply opened his eyes while leaning on his hand with his elbow against the arm of the chair. "It's fine, Coraline...you can have it..." Norman tiredly said with Coraline raising an eyebrow at that, "Huh. I expected a little more resistance but hey more for me, anyway." Coraline remarked prompting Wybie to give her a look, "You still owe me for the death of my cereal, Jonsie." He said to her mentioning her sudden pop up and startling Wybie causing him to drop his breakfast. "We've got other things besides cereal, Why Were You Born." Coraline retorted as she poured the last of the Peanut Butter Crunch into her bowl, "Yeah, but cereal is a traditional b-breakfast, Jonsie! It's the principle!" Wybie declared with Coraline not really caring at all, "Principle shminciple. My principle is always look out with what you have...cause it'll end up being spilled all over the floor. Muahahaha!" Coraline then faked a diabolical laugh. "Ugh, Norman could you say something to-" Wybie turned to Norman only to stop when he noticed Norman fell asleep again on the chair. "Uh...Norman?" Wybie called out to him. "Sleeping again? Wow, guy really is a zombie. Can't go out for two minutes without having to get back to the grave again." Coraline cracked with Wybie turning to her, "Zombies don't even sleep, Coraline." He clarified matter-of-factly. "The more I learn the less I care." Coraline said to him as she took a bite of her cereal. "Think we should wake him up?" Wybie wondered and while Coraline was temped to do so, she decided against it, "Nah. We'll let the universe do it's thing. And that's by unleashing Mr. Babcock the Terrible." Coraline remarked with Wybie flinching at that, "I'd...rather not see that. I-I think we should wake him." He suggested. "He'll be fine. Dealt with it before...can deal with it again." Coraline once again said as Norman laid there in the chair asleep. "Sheesh. Must've been some nightmare to have him like this." Wybie noted with Coraline nodding in agreement, "You're telling me. Poor, Norm. Hope this was the first and last nightmare he has this summer." Coraline hoped as Norman remained asleep on the chair though his facial features had the occasional brief twitch from time to time.

 **I don't own any of these characters. Read and Review.**


	4. Truth or Fiction

Later on during the morning, the twins along with Flowey were in their bedroom after having breakfast. Mabel was sat on her bed kicking her legs a little as she listened to her brother's rather bizarre tale of what he experienced last night. "I'm telling you, Mabel. It was incredibly real!" Dipper insisted with Mabel giving him a small skeptic pout, "You sure it wasn't just a dream, bro bro? I mean I know there's a lot of spooky weirdo things in this place already but...something like this? I dunno it-" Mabel was about to finish until Flowey cut her off, "Sounds like someone who's under the effects of Mabel Juice." He quipped with Mabel flashing him a grumpy look, "Hey, don't insult my masterpiece!" She shot at him rather cutely with Flowey simply rolling his eyes. "It couldn't have been a dream, Mabel. Because if it was I wouldn't have remembered it so well. Not to mention the food...I could actually smell the food and even still feel the taste in my mouth." Dipper continued to say before he hopped off his bed and took a step towards Mabel, "There's no way I can make this up. You can practically see it, come on!" He urged her with Mabel holding her hands up, "Whoa, whoa, dial down the excitement, broham. I'd like to believe you I really do but even I have reality checks when there's a difference between reality and the real world. Which is a load of total butt cheese! I mean seriously! One moment I'm a Pegasus queen then the next I'm in my bed letting out more drool than a waterfall!" Mabel complained with a pout, Flowey could not fight back a quiet snort until he looked to Dipper. "Dipper, are you even hearing yourself, right now? An alternate world where everything is better and everyone has buttons for eyes?" Flowey questioned with a challenging tone. "Okay, you don't believe me? Then follow me. I'll show you." He began to rush out the room with Mabel quickly grabbing Flowey with her and hurrying after Dipper, "Dipper wait up!" She called out to him as the two ran down the stairs before making a U-turn and running past the stairs moving through the hallway that led to the parlor room. They entered the parlor room with Dipper quickly walking towards where he entered the mysterious small door. Mabel was by the entrance giving Flowey a brief glance then back up to Dipper before walking towards Dipper, "I followed the jumping mouse here." He pointed behind the coffin of where Wax Stan is before he gave it several pushes with a few small grunts.

Once he moved it away completely, the view of the small door came before Mabel and Flowey's eyes. "And it went through this door. And once I opened the door...it revealed...THIS!" Dipper exclaimed in a dramatic fashion as he swung the door open. Flowey and Mabel blinked twice until the latter put on a goofy grin, "Whoa...bricks!" She chirped with Dipper nodding absently, "Exactl- Wait what?!" He then exclaimed in shock as he turned his head to reveal that the small doorway that supposedly led to another world has indeed been covered in bricks. Dipper knelt down in front of the entrance and pressed his hands against the bricked up entryway in disbelief, "But...but there's no way. I could've sworn that-" He muttered a little. "Dipper come on...this is the Pegasus and drool scenario. And that brick wall is the drool." Mabel stated with Flowey giving her an odd look because of the analogy, "That's one way to say it. But yeah your sister's...weirdly right. It was a dream and this...is a waste of time." Flowey coldly said as Dipper stood back up before scratching his head, "But...the other world...the button eyes...the food..." He mumbled as he tried to wrap his head around his until Mabel patted his shoulder, "Speaking of food...Soos is taking us to the store! You know what that meeeeeans~" Mabel slyly said as she nudged her brother's arm who was still stupefied. "We're going to ride the shopping carts and then crashing into the Pillow Palace?" Flowey questioned and behold, "We're gonna ride the shopping cart and then crash into the Pillow Palace!" Mabel cheered as she tossed Flowey up in the air, frightening him for a moment then flashing her a glare for that. "So, stop dreaming about holes that lead to weird magical places...wait...oh my gosh..." Mabel then let out a squeal snapping Dipper out of his thoughts and making Flowey wince, "THAT WAS AN ALICE IN WONDERLAND DREAM! OH MY GOSH! Dipper! Please tell me I was wearing a big top hat and was also serving out tea!" Mabel urged in excitement causing Dipper to blink twice, "Um...Mabel if you were I would've remembered it." He responded to her with Mabel letting out a raspberry, "That's bogus. But it don't mean that it can't be real! I'm so gonna find a Mad Hatter outfit at the store!" Mabel declared before she raised Flowey up above her, "COME, MY GOLDEN COMPANION! Let us make haste to the store of goodies and yummies!" Flowey then simply 'shrugged', "Eh, not like there's anything better to do here, anyway." He casually said until they quickly ran out of the parlor room with Mabel cheering in delight. Dipper looked at where they ran off before taking a look at the bricked entryway in the small door. He frowned with his brows furrowing together before he closed the door again and sighed, "I guess it really was just a dream.." He muttered in disappointment before walking out to meet up with his sister and Flowey.

Sometime later, the twins with Flowey and Soos were making their way towards the store. Grunkle Stan was unable to because according to him his rear-end got glued to the chair although Dipper knew better but did not press on the matter since it was pretty much a guaranteed waste of time. Arriving to the store, Mabel nearly barged in with Soos and Dipper behind her, the girl simply brimming to anticipation of riding the shopping cart and colliding against the Pillow Palace at full speed. "Alrighty, little dudes. Mr. Pines has shed the responsibility of taking care of you while we're here. That means no monkey business." Soos proclaimed which is pretty much an odd change of character for him that is until Mabel asked, "Can it be a funny fun kind of business though?" Soos still had his supposed stern expression, "Dial it up to the Mabel level, hambone." He told her with a silent smile on his features. This of course only excited Mabel more as she wasted no time in getting one of the shopping carts by the side near the entrance with one hand as she held Flowey's pot with the other. She then placed Flowey on the seat of the cart where mothers usually place their infants as they do shopping themselves. "This is going to end well." Flowey sardonically said but Mabel obviously interpreted as him being excited about it, "You bet your sweet taproot it will! Onward, to destiny!" Mabel yelled as she dramatically pointed upward before running while pushing the shopping cart speedily with Flowey a bit anxious at the fact that he might accidentally fall off. "See that little dude? Best part about having responsibility is using that responsibility to let the tykes relish in their mayhem." Soos chuckled as he watched Mabel quickly passing by a few isles then going to the left. He then noticed that Dipper was being rather silent prompting him to give the boy a glance, "You okay, little man?" Soos gave him a single light pat on the back with Dipper snapping his head up showing he was in 'thought land' again. "Huh? Oh yeah, fine. Just tired that's all." Dipper responded with Soos raising an eyebrow but he was kind enough to not press on the matter, "Well, you didn't have to come with us, dude. Cause heh I'm pretty sure every time we come here we get in trouble and you're always gonna have to save us." Soos told him with amusement. "Yeah I guess so, man. But don't worry about it." Dipper assured him with a dismissive wave despite not meeting his eyes. "I'll believe ya, Dipper. I'm gonna go get the stuff that Mr. Pines asked for. Oh also, if I'm drawn into the euphoric sounds of those laughing bobble-skulls...you must channel all your will to pull me out." Soos told him with a serious tone of voice but given that this is Soos, it could not have sounded any less serious. The overweight man-child took a cart as Dipper had his eyebrow raised at the odd statement but nodded regardless, slowly at that as despite knowing Soos for a long while now, the guy still never ceases to befuddle Dipper. This made him think of when he and Mabel first met Papyrus, which of course, made Dipper flash a small smile. He honestly would be fond to see Soos and Papyrus meet each other. He shook the images out before he then said, "I'll try to make sure Mabel doesn't cause any collateral damage." Soos saluted Dipper, "May the speed of the gods be with you, dude." He said to him before walking forward with the cart.

Dipper watched him pass several isles of the store before he walked forward himself with his hands in his pockets. While aimlessly strolling through some of the isles of the large convenience store, Dipper could not help but think back to what happened last night and today as well. Rewinding to last night, he chased after a jumping mouse which led him to a small door in the parlor room. Upon entering a small tunnel which required for him to crawl inside, he was met with a much more polished and refined version of the Mystery Shack. But the more shocking part is meeting the individuals who were there; his own family. But they referred to themselves as his 'Other' family. His Other Grunkle Stan was nice, kind, and supporting of Dipper. He could even cook scrumptious and amazing meals. Not to mention the fact that he did not exhibit any rude table manners and he actually had a slight younger appearance to him. There is also his Other sister, but there was just a few minor differences when compared to his real sister. Other Mabel was less cheery yet she could be excitable enough when the circumstances call for it. Though the thing about this Other Mabel is that she would not go over the top when it came to outcomes that demand a happy cheer in victory. She seemed to be...rather stable. However, the stable aspect solely belongs one particular 'other' counterpart and that is Other Flowey. He was drastically different than the real Flowey who was cold, callous, and rude. Other Flowey was rather cheerful and silly which honestly made Dipper shudder as this cheery disposition reminded him of the time when they first met the flower after they fell into the Underground at Mount Ebott. Flowey seemed to be silly and happy, but that was nothing more than a facade to get them on his good side for a moment only to frighteningly discover that it was a trap and could have been a fatal one at that. The fact that Dipper met the Other Flowey that used a mask which the originally Flowey used in order to draw humans in to kill them made him all the more uncomfortable. The next morning he was met with a slap to the face from reality upon seeing that the entrance has been seemingly sealed off by bricks. But it looked as if it had been there the whole time, and there was no small tunnel that led to the Other World. Could it really have been just a dream? But it could not seeing that he distinctly remembers their appearances, the conversations, and he even felt the aftertaste of the food. It could may he his brain messing with him, but either possibility put him in a loop of both frustration and fascination.

Dipper was so deep in thought as he wandered the dairy isle that he did not even realize that he was walking dead straight into someone until they clashed snapping Dipper out of his thoughts. Dipper's nose was met with the metallic bars of a shopping cart, the boy clutching it in light pain, "Oh shoot! I'm sorry about that!" A voice apologized to him prompting Dipper to look up rubbing his nose in discomfort, "It's fine it w-" He paused and then froze when he saw who it was, and likewise the individual did the same. "Norman?" Dipper called out in surprise upon seeing none other than Norman Babcock right there behind the shopping cart in his red sweatshirt, "Dipper?" He addressed the Pines boy in the same surprised fashion which was quickly replaced by a happy greeting as the two boys walked up to each other and slapped their hands together in a firm shake, "Hey, man! It's nice to see you again!" Dipper said to him with a big smile which Norman returned, "You too. I had no idea you were here...well...until I crashed the cart right into your nose that is." The seer sheepishly said which Dipper waved off, "It's all right. I've had worse." Dipper assured him which prompted Norman to raise an amused thick brow, "And by worse you mean Mabel?" He questioned him with a smirk. "Yes. I do mean Mabel." Dipper responded with his own amused smirk resulting in Norman letting out a snort. "Figured as much." Dipper merely shrugged before he put his hands back in the pockets of his shorts, "So, what're you doing here, man?" Dipper asked him. "Um...shopping cart? Me in a convenience store? It's not that hard to guess." Norman responded with a wave of his hands causing Dipper to blink once and shaking his head to snap himself, "Okay yeah that was a pretty dumb question." He said with a fluster. "Nah. It's cool. I've been there. But to answer your question I'm just picking up some stuff for my dad." Norman said to him with Dipper nodding once a little, "Oh. Cool. Wait, you came here all by yourself?" He questioned with raised brows. "Oh no. Coraline's here with me. My dad had to stay in the lodge so he could keep Neil and Wybie from uh...trashing the place I guess." Norman specified until he noticed the look on Dipper's face. "That's...great." He said with some hesitation. Norman was tired himself and he knew that but he was still pretty aware, "Come on, Dipper. She's not that bad." Norman said to him with a frown. "I know, I know, but this is Coraline. Sure, I don't know her like you do but-" Dipper began to say until Norman stopped him, "And when you get to know her like I do you'll see that she's not so bad." He insisted with Dipper sighing in relent, "Yeah, alright. I'll take your word for it, man." He said with Norman nodding with a smile, "Good. Cause you might wanna tone down the thoughts you have about her or else you'll find yourself at the bad end of a wedgie." He said to him with a light smirk which only grew when he saw Dipper wince at the thought. "So, who're you here with?" Norman then asked him and Dipper responded, "Mabel, Flowey, and Soos. Mabel mainly wanted to come cause she would go demolition derby on the Pillow Palace." Norman blinked but shook his head with a smile, "Your sister's quite the person." He quipped prompting Dipper to chuckle, "That's an understatement." Norman and Dipper then began to stroll down the isle slowly with Dipper next to Norman. "I think I've met that Soos guy a few times. He's nice...though pretty weird but not in a bad way." Norman spoke of the Mystery Shack employee.

"Eh, can't argue with that." Dipper casually said when he looked over to Norman and noticed the obvious rings under his eyes, "Hey, uh, Norman? You okay?" He then asked him prompting the spiky haired boy to glance at Dipper in confusion, "What do you mean?" He responded with his own question. "You look like you didn't have a good sleep." Dipper said to him which caused Norman to fight back a flinch, "Oh...uh...yeah I guess not." The boy answered in a low tone. Dipper grew silent for a moment until he spoke up again, "Bad dream...?" Norman paused briefly before nodding slightly, "More like a nightmare..." The seer responded as he rubbed his head. "You...wanna talk about it? I mean like...cause I've had one heck of a dream myself to where...I'm not even sure if it was real or not." Dipper asked him a bit anxiously. Norman could tell from the sound of his tone that what Dipper experienced was no ordinary dream, so perhaps if they could share what they experienced he might be able to remove the haunting effects off his shoulders. "Well, seeing that I've got no one to talk to about it...sure I guess.." Norman answered as the two found an empty isle where they could discuss the events that happened last night. Meanwhile, Mabel was gliding along an isle in the shopping cart with Flowey in the small seat. "Gosh darn it! Where's that Pillow Palace? They must've moved it again...but they can't hide it for long! For destruction shall soon reign upon the fluffiness!" Mabel declared with a stern expression yet the goofy grin on her face betrayed it and making it rather comical. "You know I'm all for destruction Mabel but not when it's a palace of pillows." Flowey quipped. "But you like to see things crash into something big!" Mabel said to him with a buoyant tone. "Yes. But only when it's something that's like...I dunno solid and that can make big explosions. Those ones are the best." Flowey remarked with a rather dark smile. "Eh, I'd say they're about 50/50." Mabel said making a so-so gesture with her hand. "Hmph. You just don't appreciate good destruction." Flowey said with an eye roll. "Well, you just don't get my complicated tastes!" She childishly shot back at him with a tongue sticking out at him. "Coming from the girl that kisses a Several Timez poster...yeah sure." Flowey sarcastically remarked. "Also, how is it that this is like the third time you've wanted to knock down the Pillow Palace and yet you haven't been banned from the store?" Flowey genuinely wondered but instead of Mabel answering, a familiar voice answered in her stead behind them, "That's as good a question as to how nobody here realizes that you're a talking flower." Upon turning to meet the source of the voice, Mabel was elated while Flowey was annoyed to see who it was. "Oh my gosh, Coraline! You're here!" Mabel chirped in delight. Coraline was in her orange stripped shirt, with her blue jeans, and yellow boots. The blue-haired girl chuckled at Mabel's energetic attitude, "Well, I had to be here cause someone needs to babysit Norman. Not to mention that being in a convenient store is much better than being with a the plaid wearing dictator, the mech-aniac, and his gassy sidekick. " Coraline remarked with her arms folded together.

"Norman's here too? This day just got even more better!" Mabel exclaimed in cheer. "Depends on what your definition of better is." Flowey spoke up with Coraline giving him a glance, "Nice to see you too, Goldipetals." She greeted him in a nonchalant way but Flowey scoffed and looked the other way. "Don't mind him he's just had a bad breakfast." Mabel said to Coraline with a grin. "Eh, I don't blame him. Flowers usually eat a lot of poop and dirt." She remarked in a mocking tone causing Flowey to snap, "I DON'T EAT POOP AND DIRT!" He exclaimed with fury but this only amused Coraline further, "Then what do you eat?" She asked him with Flowey answering, "Food." In a simplistic but annoyed tone of voice. "So, in other words, poop and dirt which is flower food." Coraline continued with a sassy grin causing Flowey to start fuming all while Mabel could not hold back the excess of giggles escaping her throat, "Oh, Coraline, you're such a riot." She banished an invisible tear with Coraline shrugging but had a proud smirk, "I try. So, what's been going on? Is your dorky brother here with you, too?" She wondered as she was now smiling. "Yeppers. And not much. At least for my brother and Soos...I just wanna find the Pillow Palace and crash into it!" Mabel proclaimed with excitement as she flailed her arms around with a single spin. Coraline rose one brow with pursed lips, "Really?" Mabel nodded quickly, "Yep! Wanna join us? It'll be fun! We get to go on a topsy-turvy adventure until we suddenly go hyper sonic speed then when we reach our target we go BLAM!" Mabel hopped up throwing her arms in the air only to fall to the ground with a grunt. Coraline snorted out a laugh before helping Mabel up, "Sure. I'm down with that." She accepted much to Mabel's joy, "Whoa, seriously?!" Coraline nodded once, "Yep. Not like I've got anything better to do other than make sure Norman doesn't fall into his dream land again." She explained with Flowey raising a peculiar brow at that statement, "Dreamland?" He repeated in question but Coraline simply waved her hand dismissively, "It's complicated." She simply responded before turning to Mabel with an ecstatic grin. "So, crash the palace?" Mabel's grin grew even wider and hopped in place excitedly, "CRASH THE PALACE!" She exclaimed joyfully before the two girls high-five each other with Flowey blinking once then slapped his sepal against his 'face' with a groan, "Our so-called leader everyone..." He mumbled to the audience.

Back to Norman and Dipper, the two boys were currently discussing on the events that happened last night and Dipper and were standing a few feet away from the Pillow Palace. True to its name, many pillows were constructed into a large castle-shaped construction which was impressive to say the least. Dipper was the first one to go about his tale. He spoke of his descent into this Other world where everything is almost the same except being more refined and polished and everyone else had the negative traits of their character absent only leaving kind and eerily perfect individuals. Norman, of course, was naturally quite perplexed and shocked by this. He at first was tempted to say that it must have been a dream but from the way that Dipper was talking about it this was far from being a normal but bizarre dream. However, the most alarming description from the so-called 'dream' is the fact that these 'other' versions of his family had buttons for eyes. It was especially alarming given the nightmare that Norman was plagued with involved buttons being sewn on eyes, and more disturbingly the buttons themselves had replaced the eyes of his friends. "Dipper...I don't wanna be that one guy but...my dream kinda involved that too." Norman revealed much to Dipper's surprise, "Wait what? Really? So, you've been there too..?" He questioned but Norman shook his head, "No, no, not like yours but...they were more like flashes or brief images I'd say.." He elaborated with Dipper narrowing his eyes by an inch, "Hold on...you said what you had was a nightmare...does that mean that whatever I've been through...wasn't a good sign?" He wondered a bit anxiously with Norman rubbing his neck in uncertainty, "I...I really don't know...but my nightmare and this place you've been in...it can't be just a coincidence. I mean...heh...who am I kidding? I'm pretty much not all there so...I don't think this'll really matter." The spiky haired boy proclaimed in a downtrodden tone of voice. "What? What do you mean you're not all there? You seem pretty normal to me." Dipper told him with Norman muttering, "I wish.." Under his breath and quiet enough for Dipper not to hear though he continued, "Also, you having a nightmare about people with buttons for eyes is actually a big deal. You said yourself it can't be a coincidence." Dipper told him with Norman giving a brief side glance before putting his hands in his sweat shirt's pockets. "Honestly...I've got no idea, anymore." He sighed with Dipper pursing his lips in thought for a moment, "Tell you what...if by some chance that this happens again...I'll try to gather evidence. I mean this could be another big mystery." The twelve year old remarked with growing excitement which Norman had to smile a little at, "Another mystery, huh? Well, I'm all down for it but honestly I wasn't expecting something that involves buttons for eyes." The seer admitted with a light chuckle. "Yeah? Tell that to the psycho dentist and his mutant pet platypus last week." Dipper remarked in a witty matter prompting Norman to let out a small laugh now, "Alright, touche. Oh, by the way, have you heard anything from Raz or Lili?" He asked him with Dipper shaking his head in response, "Not really, no. All I know is they're here in town but as to where I've got no clue. I think it's a secret agent type thing where their locations aren't supposed to be known." Dipper shrugged with Norman following in suit, "I guess so."

"Did you talk to anyone else about this? Like, Coraline?" Dipper then asked him. "Uh...no. I mean with something like that she'll no doubt say it was just a nightmare. Not to mention that she's got a pretty big fear of buttons being on eyes for some odd reason. She never talks about it." Norman responded with Dipper giving it some thought until he said, "Do you think maybe..." He starting to deduce that if Coraline had a fear of buttons, especially buttons being eyes, could she have possibly experienced something similar to Dipper? "Nah." The two let out before laughing a little. "So...another mystery for the Mystery Kids?" Norman questioned with a smirk to which Dipper nodded in anticipation as a big grin was now plastered on his face, "Oh, definitely!" He exclaimed a little causing Norman to snort, "Wow. It's been like a week and already things are getting weird, again." He remarked with Dipper patting his shoulder and having a sympathetic smirk, "Welcome to Gravity Falls, my friend." Just then, the two jumped as suddenly they heard someone shouting 'GANGWAY' right behind them prompting them to quickly dash to the side when they saw three shapes zoom straight past them with great speed. While these shapes moved speedily, it was not fast enough for the two to recognize them, as it turns out it was Coraline pushing the shopping cart while sprinting forward with Mabel riding inside and Flowey still be on the side with a frightened expression as well as screaming in terror. Coraline eventually rode onto the cart itself when it gained enough speed that exceeded the running the strength of her legs. The blue haired girl along with the sweater-clad twelve year old laughed in joy and excitement as they speedily dove straight to the Pillow Palace and collided against the construct, immediately knocking Mabel and Flowey out of the cart and right into the toppling pillows followed quickly by Coraline. Dipper and Norman blinked in extreme bewilderment at what just happened, giving each other brief glances, before quickly running over to the now destroyed palace of pillows. "I repeat my last statement.." Dipper said with a deadpan expression. Some of the pillows moved for a moment with Mabel popping out of the rubble, shaking her head, "That...was...AWESOME!" She exclaimed throwing her arms up as Coraline emerged from the pile as well, "Ha ha...you're telling me. I thoroughly enjoyed that!" She said in joyful agreement. "Coraline?" Norman questioned in surprise prompting the blue-haired girl to look at him and saw Dipper with him as well, "Oh, hey guys. Don't mind me...just taking a load off." Coraline remarked before she laid back on some of the pillows. "Destruction to the fluff! Revolution is at hand!" Mabel declared loudly. "Mabel...where's Flowey?" Dipper simply asked her and the answer was met with some muffled grumbles and growling under one of the pillows.

Mabel removed the pillow allowing Flowey to take a breath of air before shaking his head, ridding himself of the daze. "Morning, sunshine." Coraline remarked with Flowey giving her a glare, "One day they're gonna make a Brick Palace and I'll be the one to make sure it topples over the two of you." He proclaimed darkly but Mabel simply giggled and pet his head, "You're so adorable. Hiya, Norman!" She greeted the spiky haired seer upon seeing him, the latter waving a little to Mabel with a polite smile, "Hey, Mabel." He returned the greeting before Mabel promptly hopped out of the rubble, "How ya doin' ya spiky haired jaguar?" She asked with enthusiasm which is typical of Mabel. "Um well...could be better I guess. But otherwise not too bad." Norman answered with a brief side glance and rubbing his arm. "Pfft. That's a lie. Just this morning you literally looked like one of the zombies from the Walking Dead." Coraline then said to him as she too stood up and dusting herself. "Well, I've still got my lips intact and my hair's not completely fallen out. So, I'm good." Norman retorted with Coraline rolling her eyes but smirking regardless. "But you're kinda pale looking...wait...are you secretly a vampire?" Mabel then wondered with glittery eyes which Norman suppressed a wince at, "Sorry, Mabel. I'd take a zombie over vampire any day." He remarked not really that fond of vampires, especially since their legacy was tarnished by a certain book series. "I'd have to agree with him cause if he started sparkling...we're gonna have a problem." Coraline said with her eyes narrowing towards Norman whom grinned a little nervously. "Well...anything's possible here. So, we might see something along the lines of a sparkling vampire." Dipper stated with a shrug with Coraline and Norman giving him a look but Mabel obviously was excited by such an encounter, "And he would totally start taking beautiful leaps across the cliffs, soaring through the trees, and run like a cute cheetah." She purred, Coraline took a step back from her in discomfort. "O-kay, we should probably leave now since security is coming." Dipper suggested with everyone having a unanimous approval to that. They eventually to pay for the items they collected, while also managing to pull Soos out of his bobble-skull enamored state, though he impressively was able to collect the things they needed before he started to play with the laughing bobble-skulls. Introductions were not needed as Coraline and Norman already met Soos during their brief stay in the Mystery Shack due to the car they were in breaking down. Coraline found Soos to be a bit annoying sometimes though his man-child demeanor made him tolerable in some way. The six exited the store with Soos carrying the items in a plastic bag along with Dipper while Norman held his own. "Phew, that was harder than last time, dudes. I swear those bobble heads are getting stronger by the day." Soos remarked wiping his brow, "Soos, half of those bobble-heads ran out of battery." Dipper clarified for him with a tired glance causing Soos to gasp, "Their mind control is more dastardly than I thought."

Coraline rolled her eyes at Soos' behavior but could not fight back a smirk along with Norman. Coraline was then nearly tugged down by Mabel grabbing her arm and almost pulling her to her level, "Coraline! We should totally crash the Pillow Palace again sometime! Cause girl I could tell you've got a knack for some wicked rebellious fun!" Mabel proclaimed with a grin as Coraline stood back up but chuckled, "Yeah, well, I was bored so...it was the only fun thing to do anyway." She remarked as Norman stepped up, "Let's just not talk about this to my dad cause it doesn't take any spider-sense to know that he's having a field day by being alone with Wybie and Neil." He said a bemused expression. "Though getting him peeved can be fun. Come on, Norms. You know it's true." Coraline then insisted folding her arms together but Norman gave her a deadpan look, "...Maybe sometimes but that's not the point." Coraline simply ruffled his spiky hair, "If you say so, spiky-locks." She responded teasingly prompting Norman to gently move her hand away and adjust his hair. "Anyway, we should probably get going." Norman then suggested with Coraline sighing the nodding a little, "Yeah, don't want the dad-tator to blow a fuse." Mabel pouted in disappointment at that, "Aw you guys gotta go, already?" She whined with Coraline giving her a look, "Mabel, we're practically living here for the summer now, you'll see us more than often." She assured her with Mabel's face twisted to that of delight once more but Flowey had the opposite of that as he groaned, "And besides since we're a para-busting team now...the more than often is gonna be an understatement." Coraline winked with a smirk. "Heck yeah! The Mystery Kids! Solving mysteries and kicking evil monster butt!" Mabel exclaimed as she pumped her fists in the air. "Whoa, dudes, you're like some kind of mini-Avengers." Soos said with the kids looking at him, "No, Soos. It's bad enough that I'm a mascot of this stupid club but we are NOT gonna be compared to the Avengers." Flowey growled. "But it would be pretty cool be the Iron Man of the group." Dipper then thought of it. "Uh, no, I'm pretty sure Wyborn is the Iron Man of the group since he's all one with the machines." Coraline then retorted with Dipper giving her a sour look, "Hey, I'm smart too, y'know!" Flowey let out a wicked smirk, "Says the 'genius' that led a giant bunny thing right to us." He mocked with Coraline snapping her fingers, "Burn by buttercup!" She oddly supported Flowey though it was mainly to mock Dipper who scowled and let out a growl. "And since I'm the leader I think I'd be...that bald guy with the eye-patch." Coraline said but this confused Mabel, "You mean a pirate? I don't remember there being a pirate." She questioned with Flowey letting out a snicker, "She's got the attitude of one." Coraline gave him a stern gaze, "Says the flower that acts like an old man." She shot back at him.

Norman and Dipper were by the side in the meantime. "You sure we shouldn't tell the others about this?" Dipper questioned with furrowed brows causing Norman to sigh, "I know it's bad that we shouldn't but...I dunno. From what you said neither Mabel nor Flowey believe that it was real and just a dream. As for my...nightmare...people will say it's just that. A nightmare." He stated with a glance to the floor. "Yeah, but, there're others than just having to tell Coraline, y'know?" Dipper continued to say. "Well, I can tell Neil about it...not sure what that would do for me. Heh, he might try to get me forget about it. Though I can't tell Wybie about it. Cause he's not good at keeping secrets I know that much." Norman said as he flinched a little before rubbing his head which caught Dipper's attention as well as his concern, "Whoa, Norman, you alright?" Norman nodded a little weakly rubbing his forehead, "I'm f-fine...just a headache. These dreams I have do that sometimes..." Dipper furrowed his eyes but did not press the matter further, "Well, not trying to down the mood even more but if Coraline finds out we're on a mystery without her knowing that'll be even more of a headache." He winced knowing how Coraline may snap at the fact that they were solving a mystery without all the other kids on board. "Gee, can't wait for that..." Norman sarcastically muttered. "Well, if worse comes to worst, we could call in Raz and Lili if the situation calls for it." The spiky haired boy added. "I don't see why not. So, that settles it. I'll see if what happened last night was real or just a dream. A big part of me is hoping that it's not the second." Dipper admitted with Norman giving him a look, "Hoping that people who have buttons for eyes and live in a perfect world is real?" Dipper paused until he frowned and flashed Norman a deadpan look, "Well, since you put it like that..." Norman did not fight back a chuckle before he said, "Take care, Dipper." He told him with a small smile to which Dipper returned, "You too, man." The two then fist bumped each other as Coraline walked towards them, "You two dorks done with your little secret geek meeting?" She asked them with a smirk while she unchained the bike from the lamp post. "Dudes! Can I be part of the secret geek meeting too?!" Soos chirped with Norman and Dipper giving him an odd look, "Um...sure, Soos." Dipper said in small uncertainty, "Yes! Finally, I get to be part of an actual club! We could totally, like, have a secret tree house, secret snacks and a LOT of secret snacks, and secret bathroom breaks!" Soos cheered. "How about no on the last one, Soos." Norman cringed with Mabel looking at the man-child with a wide smile, "You could always come with us when we're solving mysteries, Soos!" She suggested buoyantly. "Thus increase the chances of getting us kill because of how stupid this club is already." Flowey sardonically muttered only for Mabel to shush him. Coraline and Norman unchained their bikes, with Coraline borrowing Wybie's bike for the time being, and waved goodbye to the twins, Flowey, and Soos whom returned it.

As they were departing a familiar figure was sitting at the other side of the street near a fire hydrant. It turned out to be a black cat, and the same black cat that was observing Flowey during his sunbathing. Its blue eyes followed the departing residents of the Mystery Shack before having a peculiar gaze at Norman, which was then fixated intensely at Coraline. Soos, the twins, and Flowey drove in the cart with the shopping items they required, on their way to the Mystery Shack. "Gotta say, dudes. You sure now how to make some pretty cool friends." Soos commended with Mabel giggling at that, "Aw, Soos. It's just part of my charm." She proudly remarked with Flowey rolling his eyes once, "Oh shoot! That reminds me! I gotta make Coraline that sweater I'm planning for her!" Mabel suddenly remembered startling Dipper out of his thoughts for a moment. "Mabel, must you always knit a sweater for someone that you automatically consider a friend?" Flowey queried her with a small annoyed tone. "Pssh, they're not just sweaters, Flowey. They're seals of friendship. Moreover they're the Sweaters of Friendship Approval! Anyone that wears those is given the honor of being my friend!" Mabel chirped. "She's totally right, Flowey dude. I still have the sweater she made for me and every time I wear I feel like I'm basking in the warmth of friendship." Soos added with Flowey practically gagging at the word. "My sweaters are the symbols of comfort and trust a-" Flowey quickly cut her off with, "Enough about that friendship sweater crud!" He exclaimed. "Aw, why? You didn't say anything when I made you that super cute tiny sweater." Mabel stated with a teasing grin. "Oh I said a lot of things. Many of which you're not gonna hear until you're old enough. Plus, it was cold and that's the only reason why I wore it." Flowey insisted with a small fluster. "Sure you did." Dipper mischievously said prompting Flowey to snap, "SHUT UP!" He exclaimed with his dot eyes widening as they became black with white pupils giving him a monstrous expression but this did not frighten the three as they simply laughed which earned them a snarl from the sentient buttercup. Several hours later, it was already nighttime as the scene transitioned to the lodge where Coraline and the others are residing. Coraline was sitting on a chair with Norman being at the opposite end while Neil and Wybie sat on the couch in the middle. "I can't believe you guys crashed the Pillow Palace without me." Neil complained with a pout. "Hey, you're the one that didn't want his beauty sleep ruined." Coraline retorted with a tired glance towards his direction. "Yeah, but you could've just said the magic word and I would've been outta the room faster than me having to use the bathroom while constipated." Neil proclaimed with Coraline flashing a look of brief disgusted at that, "Okay then, what's the magic word?" She asked curiously. "Food." Neil simply responded. "I should've known..." Coraline remarked lowly.

She leaned back against the chair as she sat with her legs crossed. "Also, Norman and Dipper apparently have their own secret dork club. I'm sure Wybie would've been a perfect edition." She directed the comment towards Wybie who flashed her a sour expression, "Hey, I resent that!" He yelled when Coraline simply responded with, "No, you don't." Wybie paused for a moment and his shoulders slumped down in defeat, "...Yeah, I don't." Coraline snorted before she looked over to Norman whom, once again, seems to be in his own world again as he was leaning his chin against his palm with his elbow on the arm of the chair, looking upwards a little. "You know, Norman..." Coraline began to say which snapped Norman out of his thoughts making him blink twice and look over to Coraline, "They say if you concentrate real hard...you could make that moose head up there come to life." She continued as she performed a spooky gesture with her fingers prompting Norman to flash her a cross-sour expression, "Oh ha ha." He grumbled before looking back at the mounted stuffed heads. "Wait really? So, all this time if I just focused really hard I could have a hot girl wearing a bikini in front of me? And one that's also feeding me grapes? Wow, I'm way behind." Neil naively proclaimed. "When it comes to focus and mentality? Pretty much." Coraline openly mocked the freckled ginger before redirecting her gaze towards her family friend, "But seriously, Norm. What's with you? You daydream more often than-" Coraline was then cut off by Wybie who raised his hand, "The correct term is n-night dreaming, Jonsie. Cause it's night time and he's..." Wybie began to correct her only to shrink down when he was met with Coraline's piercing glare followed by her throwing one of the chair's cushions at him. "It's nothing, Coraline. I'm fine." Norman told her in a distant tone of voice but Coraline persisted, "Fine isn't something you describe when someone looks like they're dead." She remarked causing Norman to flinch at the word. "Oh! I know what you can describe as fine! A cute girl, some delicious food, someone who's being all emotional but they say that they're fine..." Neil began to count on his fingers to which his face was struck about another of the chair's cushions thrown by Coraline. "Seriously, I'm fine. Just that I didn't have the best sleep last night and it's...still getting to me. That's all." Norman insisted with Coraline feeling the need to press on the matter until Neil spoke up once again, "Yeah. I mean it's not like he's seeing ghosts or anything right now." And that was what fully caught Norman's attention with his eyes widening like dinner plates and his skin becoming much more pale. Neil was smart enough to catch on and quickly tried to hide it, "A-and by that I mean he's not seeing ghosts at all! Like, that'd be pretty crazy, right? Cause who can see ghosts, anyway!" Neil quickly blabbered out with a flustered voice which both Wybie and Coraline blinked at with bewildered looks on their faces, "Ooookay, then." She lowly spoke after a moment of awkward silence.

"If you'd like to know...psychics can probably see ghosts. And that has me wondering...can people like Raz and Lili see ghosts?" Wybie genuinely wondered with a curious raised brow. "They totally can! I mean, they already can do wicked cool things with their brains! So, it'd be cool for them to see ghosts too!" Neil exclaimed cheerily which Wybie nodded at in agreement. "The fact that there's a government agency that deploys secret psychic agents is something I'll never get by." Coraline remarked as she leaned back against the chair. "T-there's a lot of things the government could be hiding, Jonsie. So, the whole thing about psychic agents is probably just the t-tip of the iceberg." Wybie commented while twiddling his thumbs. "But it's pretty crazy to think about...I mean so crazy that it's hard to believe. Like, if someone came up to you and says that I gave birth to an alien baby would you believe em?" Neil questioned with Coraline giving him an odd look, "Uh, you're not referencing that fake newspaper that says thing like Hilary Clinton gave birth to an alien baby, right?" She asked him with a raised brow prompting Neil to give her a shocked look, "Holy cow, you didn't tell me you were psychic too, Coraline!" Neil exclaimed naively with Coraline slapping her palm against her face in response. "I'm going to bed." Norman declared as he promptly hopped off the chair and made his way to the stairs. "Alrighty! Goodnight, Norman!" Neil wished him followed by Wybie. "Going to bed, already? We were gonna watch Firefly." Coraline said to him but Norman waved his hand dismissively without even looking at them as he walked up the stairs. Coraline continued to watch his retreating form with a twinge of worry, something which caught Wybie's eye, "Jonsie, he'll be fine." He assured her. "I know but...I can't help but feel that something's up." Coraline said looking to the side a little then back to Wybie, "Hey, if there is we won't push him around until he tells us." The young mechanic remarked with Coraline sighing, "That usually works, though." She quipped with a small mischievous tone of voice behind the statement. "Only because you usually pick on Neil and I.." Wybie responded with a cross-sour look. "Can you blame me? You two are as easy to crack as cracks." Coraline retorted with a smirk. "Mmm, crackers. I could go for some right now. Maybe some pizza flavored ones? Oh! Sour cream and onion." Neil dreamed with a drooling mouth.

Later on that night, Norman was on his bed cross legged and facing the window, gazing out into the night and at the bright moon. For some reason he does not have the faintest idea of why he would not just outright tell people like Dipper or Coraline that he has the ability to speak and see the dead. Neil of course accepted it without hesitation due to his optimistic and naive disposition, but it was the others who he was most afraid of how they would react. Whenever Neil nearly lets slip of the revelation he feels like his heart is about to pound straight out of his chest, and imagines himself being put in the scenario where he is back in his school, walking down those accursed halls, as all his classmates give him a look like there is an alien attending the same school as them. He gets the most looks, more of the mocks, and worse of all...the isolation. Those scenarios always haunt him, sure his parents were now accepting it albeit hesitantly, as does his sister Courtney. But they were his family, it is much different than total strangers you just met and became friends with. Well, his mother always said that it takes time for trust to fully develop in a friendship. It does not mean that he distrusts people like the twins or the Psychonauts, it is simply that he requires time until he becomes fully acquainted with them so he may reveal his secret. In all honesty, he hated this feeling. Of being in the spotlight, even the mere thought of the spotlight ready to flash on him as he was in center stage where everyone would be waiting for his secret to come out. It was...amazing to say the least. Here he is in a sleepy town that is more than likely filled to the brim with all manners of supernatural entities, whilst there being individuals with extraordinary abilities like Raz and Lili for example, and yet he still feels like the alien, always the odd one out of the group. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted at the sound of a voice speaking next to him. " _You'll have to tell them sooner or later."_

The person spoke causing Norman to turn and there she was, the same girl that helped him track Loboto down, sitting beside him on the bed while being enveloped in a green ethereal glow. "I know but...Aggie it's harder than you think. And this isn't like the times you lived in...this is different." Norman said with Aggie sighing, _"Just be glad they won't burn you at the stake. But...they're your friends...they'll accept it."_ She assured him but Norman did not feel reassured at all, "Maybe some cases but others...not really. They won't believe me...they'll just think I'm crazy or I'm trying to get attention cause I'm kinda useless." He said in a downtrodden tone prompting Aggie to give him a stern look, " _Don't say_ _that, Norman. You can do more than you think. This power you have can be considered a curse at first but...judging by how the world works now...it can be a gift...and you can use it at the right moments. Just like you did back in Blithe Hollow."_ Aggie said to him with a warm smile which caused Norman to put some thought into for a while, "I guess so..." He muttered a little until Aggie slowly moved her hand towards his own and held it tenderly. Despite being a ghost he could almost practically feel it, _"Everything will turn out fine...you'll see. Want to know why?"_ She then said with Norman turning to fully look at her. " _Because you're the one that gave me the hope of things turning out to be okay...no matter how bleak it may seem in the end."_ She answered and that managed to form a small smile on Norman's lips now. "Thanks, Aggie. Really." He expressed his gratitude with a warm expression prompting Aggie to give his hand a light squeeze, " _It's why I'm here, Norman. Take as much time as you need until you tell them. It's going to be fine in the end. I promise."_ And with that she slowly faded away and Norman could no longer feel her presence. He sighed feeling that his tormenting thoughts had diminished due to Agatha's comforting words. He knows that he might feel selfish for saying it in some way but he was honestly glad that Aggie was here when he needed her. Ever since he discovered that he decided to remain in the material plane as a ghost instead of moving on, he slowly accepted it especially since Agatha was looking out for him. In a way, she was pretty much the one person who he could use as a shoulder to cry on, to vent towards, or to even just talk about what happened during a not-so-regular day. She would be there, listening, and even laughing. While at the same time she would be learning more and more about the modern world given that she hailed from the 1700's. He decided that his mind needed to rest as it was bombarded with enough bad thoughts as it is, which means he would too require some rest. He laid back on his bed, moved the blankets over him, and finally closed his eyes as he succumbed to slumber not too long later. However, as he was sleeping, a familiar presence was in the room observing him, and at the far end of the door as well. It was a mouse, and looked to be standing on its long hind legs, giving it the appearance of a jumping mouse which was observing Norman's slumbering form.

 **I'm back. If any of you were wondering, I didn't exactly have the best three months...not at all. Not to mention that I wasn't in the best condition to do anything...I won't go into details. But I'd like to say that I'm terribly sorry for the long absence. I just needed to get some things done, and get my life together. I needed things to be stable otherwise I might spiral down a path of which there's no coming back from. Hope you're all doing much better than I am. I don't own Gravity Falls, Undertale, Coraline, ParaNorman, or Psychonauts. Read and Review.**


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